Hydrophobia
by camillexelisabeth
Summary: They said there was an orginal, still roaming the wild, but now, it's gone. A quest is given to the most unlikely hero. Water can be most deadly to those closest to it, but yet one must overcome it.
1. Are Those Wings?

**A/N: Well hello again, FanFiction! It has been much too long since I have last picked up a pen to write. This is the first chapter of my new story called Hydrophobia. It's more of a teaser, to see how you guys like Brennan Wells, the main character.**

**I do not own PJO.**

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Chapter One: Are Those Wings?

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Sitting quietly by myself was how I usually spent gym class. I'm just a scrawny freshman, added to the fact that in order to pass my first year of high school, I have to swim a mile.

I'm gonna let you in on a secret: I hate swimming. It's terrifying. The feeling that something is completely surrounding me makes me feel like I'm not the one in control.

The worst part of the final day of school was knowing that last period I was going to have to get in that God forsaken pool and swim.

I sat through first period tapping my pencil rapidly on my notebook. Jenny Rice glared over at me and put a finger to her lips. Jenny may have been the prettiest girl at Notre Dame High School, but she sure wasn't the nicest. Needless to say, she had rejected me twice in middle school.

I lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee, cultural mecca of the world. Not. See, while Chattanooga has a great art scene, it's boring. The only thing I ever looked forward to was the Riverbend music festival, and I couldn't even go to that this year because my mom and stepdad were hauling my sorry butt to Tampa to see my grandparents. They live in a house right next to the beach. I really, really hate the beach.

Okay I lied. Chattanooga has an awesome aquarium. I mean like some of the coolest things I have ever seen are in those two buildings. It's right on the Tennessee River, and I could spend hours in there. I felt whole in there.

I was snapped back to reality by the bell. Second period was just a joy. My English teacher was a bit...off her rocker. Mrs. Darlington was convinced that Jesus would return within her lifetime (and there wasn't much of that left, if you know what I mean).

"Brennan!" she snapped.

I blinked a couple of times and looked up. Mrs. Darlington was standing over me, her tattered copy of Romeo and Juliet held aloft.

"I said, who was Shakespeare's mother?" she questioned harshly.

I racked my brain, but the answer just wasn't there. "I, uh, I don't know," I stammered. A few kids snickered but Mrs. Darlington silenced them with a steely glare.

"You should have studied for this exam," she hissed and slid the test onto my wooden desktop.

I sighed. Yet another exam I was going to fail. I wasn't stupid, exactly, just lazy beyond belief. I got most of my homework done five minutes before we had to hand it in. So, obviously I didn't study at all for any of my final exams.

After stumbling through the English exam, while attempting to keep my ADHD at bay, I pondered my options. Latin was next period and I was screwed. We had a crazy teacher who was nice and all, but she couldn't teach worth anything. Not that I could do any better. I could always skip the exams and head home, but the look on my mom's face would have been bad.

The Latin exam was brutal. Halfway through I just gave up and started bubbling random choices. Needless to say, when I finished first, I slept.

The next few periods were a blurr. I'd like to take the time to thank ADHD for making my life just so much better. Plus, medicine does not help. Trust me.

Gym class finally came and I sat down in the locker room after I had changed. I took a deep breath, attempting to prepare myself for the torture that was about to come.

I pushed my shaggy black hair out of my eyes and looked up. Everyone was gone and I quickly followed them. The group of boys gathered around the pool. One by one, they dove in and swam the required mile.

Eventually, it was my turn. "Coach is there nothing else I can do?" I begged.

The coach shook his head. "Wells, get in the water," he ordered.

I glanced at the clear blue water and shook my head. "I can't do it," I whispered.

"Then you can go to summer school!" the coach yelled.

"For Wellness? No way! I can run the mile, just please, don't make me swim! I'll run two miles if I have to!" I begged quietly.

The coach and I argued like this back and forth for fifteen minutes. I opened my mouth to retort and the final bell rang.

"I'll see you in summer school, Wells," the coach sneered and walked out of the pool area.

I sighed and turned to go but a big group of guys blocked my way. "So Brennan, we think you've got a little case of hydrophobia," the biggest one said.

"Uh, yeah I guess I do," I stammered.

The group laughed and the big one stepped forward. "How's about we help you cure that," he growled. I shook my head vigorously, but he had already picked me up.

He began walking toward the water, holding me upside down. "No, no, no!" I screamed. "Put me down! Seriously, I can't swim!"

"Then have fun," the guy said and tossed me into the deep end.

I hit the water with a huge splash and sunk in. I felt weightless and I struggled to find the surface. In fact, I couldn't find the surface at all. I sucked in quite a bit of water before I finally broke the thin line of water. I stuttered and gasped for air as I dog paddled to the ledge.

A younger boy ran awkwardly to the side. His brown eyes were wide and he looked around frantically.

I pulled myself out of the water and coughed up the water that remained in my lungs. I fell onto my stomach and layed on the cool tile floor while the boy stood over me, wringing his hands.

"Brennan, are you okay?" he asked.

I glared up at him. "Do I look okay?" I said harshly. The pool house was empty except for us.

He shook his head and helped me up. "Who are you?" I asked. I'd never seen him before and I shook the water out of my hair.

"My name's Danny Fitz. We should, uh, hang out this afternoon," he stammered.

I raised an eyebrow. "Dude, I've never seen you before. Sorry, but I have riding this afternoon anyway. Uh, maybe some other time," I said awkwardly. No way was I gonna hang out with some random kid.

"Oh, uh, can't you like, skip or something?" he asked nervously.

"Danny, you seem cool and all, but I really have to go," I said and pushed past him into the locker room. I changed as fast as possible and sprinted out the other exit.

I was looking for my mom when I ran straight into my friend Lindsey.

"Brennan!" she gasped and steadied me.

Lindsey was one of the few girls here who even looked my way. I still don't get what she sees in me.

For one, I'm a freshman. Two, I'm about as scrawny as they come. I'm only 5'4 and I probably weigh less than the anorexic girl in my biology class. The only interesting thing about me are my green eyes. Even then, they're dull.

"Hey, Linds. Look, I don't have much time to talk. Have you seen my mom?" I asked frantically. I was already late for riding as it was.

Lindsey shook her head. "Sorry, Brennan. Look, I'm going to Memphis to see my cousin tomorrow, so I won't see you much this summer. I just wanted to say bye," she said quickly.

I hugged her and smiled. "See you next year," I said and waved as I walked off. She gave a tiny wave and turned around.

I sprinted around the other side of the school and found my mom waiting in her minivan. My little sister, Kim was in the back tapping on the window.

I yanked the door open and my mom smiled at me. I chucked my backpack into the back seat and Kim yelped.

"Brennan, are you okay?" my mom asked. She pushed her brown curls out of her face and looked at me.

I nodded and sighed. My mom was too good to me. She should have kicked me out ages ago. I'm kind of a problem child.

We drove to the stables and I changed as fast as I could. Tom, my riding coach, was already there.

He silently handed me the reins of my horse and stalked off toward the track. Tom was a bit sensitive to time frames.

I stroked my horse's nose and slipped a sugar cube out of my pocket. I'd had the girl since I was ten, and she was practically my best friend. I named her Wonder, mainly because I couldn't think of anything else, and Stardust sounded too girly.

Wonder whinnied and nudged my closed fist. I opened my palm and she lapped up the sugar cube. I rubbed her mane and swung myself onto the saddle. Together we cantered over to the racing track.

I've been riding horses since I was seven. It's really expensive, and my family sacrifices a lot for me to do it, but I can't stop.

I race. I guess this is due mainly because of the fact that I'm so small. Let's just say being a jockey is not for fat people.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm really good. It's my talent, I guess. I've won a few races. Alright, I've won a lot of races. But talking about winning is weird. I feel like I'm bragging.

Tom glared at me. "You're late," he stated simply.

I made a face. "I got thrown in the pool today," I mumbled.

"Kid, you really need to get over this whole fear of water thing. I mean, aren't you supposed to go to the beach this summer?" he asked.

I cringed. I was still trying to beg my way out of that one.

Practice was the same as usual. I got through half an hour early, mainly because Tom said I cut fifteen seconds off my lap time. Wonder was really pushing it, I could tell. By the time I gave her water, she was still panting heavily.

"Good job today, girl," I whispered. I took my riding helmet off and hung it on the wall. I rubbed Wonder's mane and she nuzzled my neck.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned around. Danny Fitz and my mom were standing together next to the door of the barn.

"Mom, how do you know Danny?" I asked.

My mom looked down. Danny pulled me out of the barn and pushed me towards the other stables. A white horse was standing next to the doors, but it didn't have a saddle or bridle or anything.

"Danny, what's going on?" I asked. "Mom? Someone answer me!" I cried.

My mom hugged me tightly. "You need to go with Danny, okay? Just go with him and you'll be safe," she said softly.

"Mom, what in the world are you talking about?" I yelled.

Danny grabbed my arm and pulled my toward the horse. Only, it wasn't a horse. It had...wings?

"What the hell is that?" I cried.

Danny bit his lip. "It's a pegasus," he said slowly.

"What's that?"

Danny turned and looked at me wide eyed. "You don't know what a pegasus is?"

I shook my head and Danny rolled his eyes. "May the gods help you, then," he mumbled.

"Okay, seriously, guys what the heck is going on?" I asked desperately.

My mom kissed my forehead. "Go with Danny, dear. I love you," she whispered.

"Mom, no!" I yelled, but Danny was on the horse and he yanked on my arm.

"Mrs. Wells do you mind if I incapacitate your son?" he asked, making me pretty nervous.

My mom shook her head sadly and suddenly Danny pressed on the side of my neck and everything went black.

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A/N: Hey! I have come to hate long author's notes, even though I'm guilty of them, so I'll keep it short.

**Brennan Wells is a boy, if you didn't catch on.**

**Tell me what you think about this story, and if you guys like it, I'll keep writing. I do this for y'all.**

**ψcamille elisabethψ**


	2. Unknowns

**A/N:** Only four reviews? Come on guys, show me some love.

So, I realized I left out some important information in the first chapter. One, this takes place the summer after TLO. Two, Danny isn't a main character. Three, I'm only continuing this story if I get enough reviews, so if you liked it, just take a second to tell me. Thanks.

_I do not own PJO._

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_**Hydrophobia**_

**Chapter Two: Unknowns**

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I've never actually given much thought to what I didn't know. I mean, why would I? I didn't know what a pegasus was, so how would I know to think about it? Thinking back on it, there were a lot of things I didn't know. I was filled with regret that I didn't actually pay attention in Latin class. We had to have talked about this stuff, but I was most likely asleep.

Of course I didn't know what to think when I woke up in an empty room. It was plain white, with paintings of flowers hanging on the walls.

I looked around and found the door. I stood up, wobbled a little bit, and walked shakily to the door. I pried it open and peeked out. A long hallway stretched in front of me and I made my way down it.

It opened up into a brightly sun lit room. It was furnished like a regular house, but it was completely empty.

I pushed open the front door and crept onto a porch. Sprawling in front of me was the most beautiful tract of land I had ever seen. It beat the crud out of the Smokey Mountains. The land was dotted with strange buildings that looked like the ones in my Latin one book.

I heard the clash of metal against metal and shouts. I scanned the valley, trying to find the source of the noises. My gaze rested on the woods, and I saw flashed of bronze.

I heard a whistling noise and all the sudden an arrow was stuck in the wooden beam not three inches from my face. I stumbled backwards and fell.

I must have hit my head or something, because when I opened my eyes two seconds later, there was a boy standing over me.

"Who are you?" he asked.

I struggled to my feet and looked him over. He was much taller than me and looked like he'd been through one hell of a fight. He had shaggy brown hair and blue eyes. The strangest thing about him was his attire. He was wearing what looked like armor. In his hand was a sleek bow and strapped across his back was a case of some sort.

"Do you know how to talk? Who are you?" he asked again, this time much more impatient.

"I'm Brennan Wells, and I'm horribly confused. Where exactly am I?" I asked carefully.

"Did you not get a satyr?" he said, obviously confused.

"Huh?"

He shook his head and mumbled, "This is gonna be fun."

"Just tell me where I am, and if I can borrow a phone or something. I'll call my mom and she can come get me," I suggested. I really just wanted to get home.

The boy laughed a little. "Camp Half-Blood doesn't have phones. And unless you live in New York, I doubt Mommy is gonna want to come get you."

I blinked a few times as that sunk in. There was no way I was in New York. I racked my brain for memories.

Danny had done something to me back at the stables and I passed out. How long had I been asleep?

"New York is...is..." I stammered.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing you're not from New York," he said sarcastically.

I was too shocked to respond. Then it hit me like a train. "Take me back!" I yelled.

The boy held up his hands and backed up. "Whoa, man. I'm not the one in charge here," he said quickly.

I swung a punch, but he blocked it easily. He grabbed my wrist and pulled it under his arm, effectively trapping me. I stuggled, but couldn't break his hold.

"Calm down, kiddo. My name is Brian. You seriously need to just stop freaking out alright? I'm gonna explain some stuff, but you have to stay calm and just listen," he said soothingly.

I took a deep breath and glanced up. "Let go of me," I said tightly. Brian released his death grip and took a step back, holding his hands up.

"Take a seat, bud," he said, gesturing at a wicker chair.

Once I was settled, he stood leaning against the railing. "Where to begin?" he mumbled to himself.

I took a deep breath. "I'm guessing the beginning would be nice," I suggested.

Brian laughed a tad and shrugged. "If you say so." He paused and raised an eyebrow. "Alrighty, kid, you aren't normal. You are what some people like to call a half-blood."

I opened my mouth to protest this crazy idea, but Brian held up his hand for silence. "Now," he continued, "a half-blood could mean a lot of things, I guess, but in your case, and mine, and frankly, everyone else at this camp, half-blood means demigod. Any questions so far?" he asked.

I opened my mouth again, but he spoke before I could. "Good. So a demigod is a half god, half mortal. Gods, you may ask? Yes, gods. Plural, specifically. And to be even more specific, Greek gods. Okay, next on my little list is...hmm, let's see...ah, yes! The order of monsters. Were you attacked by anything unusual or out of the ordinary before you got here?"

I blinked a few times and got up. "I'll walk to Chattanooga if I have to, but I'm not staying here," I said quickly and tried to push my way past the insane kid.

Brian blocked my path and pushed me back down. "I said, were you attacked by anything weird?" he demanded.

I snarled, attempting to intimidate him, but I'm fairly sure I just looked like an angry puppy. "Other than that weird Danny kid knocking me out, and you feeding me this bull shit, no. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going home," I said as fiercly as I could.

Brian smiled and shook his head. "Poor, poor Danny. He always gets the difficult ones. I bet you put up quite the struggle. Well, at least until little old Danny hit the night-night button," he said sarcastically.

"Look," I said in defeat. "If I let you finish telling your story, can I please just go home?" I begged.

Brian's eyes softened a bit, and he sighed. "Alright, Brennan you have to believe me. It will all go much more smoothly if you just roll with it, okay? Kinda just ride the wave in and see where it takes you. Life is like that, you know," he said deeply.

"I don't have time for this!" I yelled and tried to get up, but all the sudden another arrow whizzed past us and hit the side of the wall next to my head. The arrow was on fire and a note was attached to it.

Brian rolled his eyes. "Could she be any more dramatic?" he mumbled as he untied the note. He uttered a few curses and threw the note down. "I told you to hold the defenses!" he yelled into the woods.

A girl shimmered next to him. "Well I told you not to run off!" she yelled back. In her hand she held a Yankees cap.

Brian jumped about ten feet in the air. "Don't do that to me!" he barked.

"I'll do what I want! Besides, you stay up to ungodly hours banging on that damn snare drum, so why shouldn't I use my skills just as much?" the girl demanded.

"That's not a skill! That's borrowing Annabeth's hat!" he yelled.

The girl snarled and said, "Well at least Annabeth doesn't want to kill me."

Brian turned an odd shade of red and then took a deep breath. "Elisabeth, meet Brennan," he said slowly.

The girl, presumably Elisabeth, turned her steely glare to me. The first thing I noticed about her was that she was all the same color―a white gold. I mean, her skin was normal, but her hair and eyes both looked like cornsilk. Her eyes were almost clear. Looking at her eyes, I felt like I was staring straight into her soul. It was mesmerizing and terrifying at the same time. She had milky pale skin and her pale blonde hair hung just past her shoulders. She would have been kind of pretty, but she had a deep set scowl.

"A new camper?" she said harshly. "Does he know anything?"

Brian shrugged. "I told him, but I don't know if he believes me."

I waved my hands around. "Uh, guys? I'm right here."

They ignored me and kept talking. Elisabeth glared at Brian and mumbled, "Who let you tell him?"

"Well, seeing as though your arrow almost killed him, I thought I should check up on the random kid standing on the porch. It's not my fault you have terrible aim!" Brian snarled.

Elisabeth rolled her eyes. "Don't be jealous, Brian. Your father may be the god of archery, but that doesn't mean you're any good at it," she said fiercly.

"I'm practically the best archer we have at camp!" Brian yelled, obviously deeply offended.

I stepped in between the pair. "Hi! My name is Brennan Wells, and I have no idea what I'm doing here or what's going on! So let's just get along for the sake of my fragile sanity!" I said as cheerfully as possible.

Elisabeth rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. "Well, I'm assuming you know that you're a demigod," she sneered.

"Look, I'm just kinda goin' with it right now," I said defensively. "Besides, most likely, you are all high beyond belief and you've slipped me some of your mind altering drugs. So I'm also hammered to the point of insanity, and I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy it."

Elisabeth stepped forward with her fist drawn back but Brian caught her around the waist and pulled her back. I raised an eyebrow at her anger, only to find her staring right back. She was looking at me intently, and suddenly I felt like an open book.

"Stop staring at me," I mumbled, but she just narrowed her eyes and glared harder.

"Elisabeth just leave the kid alone," Brian urged. Elisabeth blinked and suddenly I felt like my metaphorical book had snapped closed.

Elisabeth turned on her heel and stomped off. She turned back around and screamed, "We lost Capture the Flag because of you!" Unfortunately, she was pointing at me. Before I could defend myself, she whipped the hat back on and disapeared.

I stared dumbly at the spot where she had been. I stuttered, "How did she―"

Brian just shook his head and slumped back into a chair. "This is gonna be a long day," he said under his breath.

"Well, maybe if you let me go home, then your day would get better," I suggested hopefully.

Brian suddenly stood up angrily. "Don't you get it?" he yelled. "You can't just leave! You'll get killed by monsters!"

"Look, there's no need to―" I stammered but Brian was on a roll.

"What will it take for me to get you to believe? I mean, when some kid with goat legs told me I was a son of Apollo, my first thought was 'crazy' but after five minutes of explaining, it clicked. Listen carefully. The Greek gods are real and one of them is your parent. You can either accept that now, or you can argue for two hours about how that's not possible. Well, kiddo it is. So get over it." Brian finished with a huff and glared at me.

"I would believe you, but I don't see how it's possible," I argued. "I'm not even Christian, so if you want me to join your cult or whatever, I'm probably not the best option. Not very religious or devout, if you know what I mean," I argued.

"Why can't you just freaking believe me already?" Brian yelled back at me.

"Well, proof helps," I suggested, though I didn't see how he was going to prove that the Greek gods were real.

Brian smiled a little, but it was sarcastic. "Proof? You want proof? The kid wants proof!" he said loudly to the imaginary person next to him. He grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me off the porch.

"Where are we going?" I asked desperately, struggling to keep my arm connected to my shoulder.

Brian gave me a hard yank and I was suddenly next to him. "I'm showing you proof!" he said angrily.

We rushed through the valley, hurrying past strange Grecian buildings. I didn't have time to look at them all, but I glanced into what looked like a fighting arena.

Brian pulled me all the way across the valley and we stopped next to a strawberry field. He turned me around and I was facing a wooden stable. It was fenced in and had a small grassy area in the middle.

Brian whistled and I heard the clopping of hooves. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I saw the animal that came trotting out.

It was gleaming gold, with a regal white stripe down its nose. "A palomino," I whispered. I'd never actually seen a palomino horse before, but I'd heard they were stunning. The horse cantered over to us and whinnied distastefully at Brian.

Brian rolled his eyes and hopped over the fence. "Percy?" he called. "You in there?" I heard a muffled response and a few seconds later, a boy jogged out of the stables. He had shaggy black hair and bright green eyes. He looked about sixteen or seventeen, and he was actually much taller than me. But then again, who wasn't.

"What's up?" the boy asked Brian. He tilted his head in my direction and Brian shrugged.

"Newbie," he stage whispered.

The boy smiled a bit then turned to me. "I'm Percy Jackson, by the way. When did you get to camp?" he asked.

I stammered awkwardly, "Uh, I dunno exactly. Last thing I remember is being in Chattanooga, with this kid named Danny that I'd only met once before. I just kinda woke up here, wherever here is."

Percy laughed a tiny bit and said, "Happens to the best of us. So, what's your name?"

I pretended like my feet were the most interesting thing I'd ever seen. "Oh, my name is Brennan," I said awkwardly.

"Very cool," Percy said slowly. Awkwardness is my specialty, and right now I was serving up a hot steaming plate of it.

Brian waved his hand and I followed him over the fence. From my new angle the horse looked different; it had two somethings protruding from its back. They sort of looked like...

"Brian," I said slowly, "what kind of horse is this?"

The horse whinnied indignantly and turned so its side was facing me. My jaw dropped and I reached out and stroked its magestic...wings.

"This," Percy said proudly, "is what is called a pegasus."

I swayed a little bit, and then I went down.

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A/N:

I'm an expert at passing out. Last Friday, at band practice, I was standing in opening set and all the sudden I didn't feel so hot. So I stood there trying to take deep breathes and prevent the inevitable. See, I've passed out before so I know what the signs are. My vision got all blurry and the next thing I knew, the drum majors were counting off. I made it eight counts before hitting the ground. Let's just say that two attractive snare drummers' facial expressions were something like, "Ah! Dead guard girl!" My friend stood me up and pushed me off the field, and I sat down during the last run. That was the first time I've sat out since freshman year. I was SO mad. Plus, stumbling off the field through the tuba line after passing out in front of the most gorgeous boy on drumline is quite embarassing. Who said marching band isn't intense?

This is turning into a long author's note so I'll wrap it up. Brennan is named after a certain trumpet player, and things are going...oddly. Elisabeth isn't named after me, she's named after my mother, Anne Elisabeth. Brian is named after a good friend of mine who's on drumline. No, he's not the gorgeous one. That'd be DJ. Nerdy name, huh? Snare drummers are cool, but trumpet players make me happy(:

Any guesses as to the parentage of Brennan or Elisabeth? I believe I already told you Brian's father is Apollo.

Questions? Comments? Complaints? There's an app for that. It's called the review button. So press it(:

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_**ψcamille elisabethψ**_


	3. The Truth

**A/N:** Hey guys! Guess what? Elisabeth is most definitely spelled with an S. I swear. So, if you spell it with a Z, then you be wrong. It's a pet peeve of mine, seeing as though my name is Camille Elisabeth and I've had people spell it "Kamyl Elizbeth." Thanks, sixth graders. So the moral of this story is...spell the name correctly please(:

I do not own PJO.

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Hydrophobia

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**Chapter Three: The Truth**

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When I came to, for the second time that day, I was back in the white room. The kid from earlier, Percy, was asleep in the chair next to my bed.

I blinked a couple of times and looked around. I realized that this wasn't the room from before, but a different one. This room had paintings of flying horses on the walls and I was reminded of the horse that I saw earlier.

I sat up slowly and tried to get up but I stubbed my toe on the nightstand and yelped. Percy's eyes fluttered open and he smiled.

"Have a nice nap?" I managed.

Percy shrugged and stretched out his back. "I've had better. You've been out for," he paused and glanced at his watch, "four hours."

I closed my eyes tightly and shook my head. "I can't bring myself to believe you," I whispered.

"You saw the pegasus. A horse that has wings isn't normal, Brennan," Percy said softly.

I bit my lip. "Is this really true?" I asked.

Percy nodded slowly and stood up. "I'll go get Brian and he'll show you around camp," he said.

I followed Percy out of the house and down a path. We passed strange buildings, but Percy never told me anything about them. We came to a large collection of odd buildings. Each one was extremely different from the others. Percy told me to wait outside a shining gold one.

Music blared from it. I could hear what sounded like The Clash coming from a stereo within. I heard other music as well; what sounded someone beating on a drum.

I stood awkwardly while people stared at me. I'd never been the new kid at school, so this sensation was new to me. I spotted Elisabeth coming out of a building. It was made entirely out of glass, but it wasn't clear. It was golden glass and it gleamed brightly.

I waved to her and she froze in her tracks. She was a good twenty yards away, but I swear I could clearly see her eyes staring me down. She took a step, but stopped herself.

I waved again and she blinked carefully. Elisabeth turned on her heel and stalked away. I was about to go after her, but Brian and Percy walked out of the gold building. The drumming had stopped, but Brian held a pair of white drumsticks. He was twirling one through his fingers and the other was keeping a steady beat against his leg.

"So, kiddo," Brian began. "I guess I get the privilege of showing you around Camp Half-Blood."

I walked behind him through the entire process, taking everything in carefully. I couldn't decide whether I really and truly believed them, or whether the LSD they probably slipped me was still in affect.

Brian seemed pretty relaxed, but once his confidence slipped and the steady beat he kept faltered. Elisabeth emerged from the woods, holding a bow.

"Brian," she mumbled and strode past us. She made a point of ramming her shoulder roughly into me. I stumbled back a bit and she glared at me. "Watch it newbie," she growled.

Before I could respond, she stalked away. "What's her problem?" I asked Brian.

He shrugged. "She's just an angry person. She's okay once you get to know her I guess."

I raised an eyebrow and Brian laughed. "Okay, so she's a total bitch," he said through his laughter.

"That's what I thought," I mumbled.

Brian finished showing me around the camp and swiftly set about taking me to what he called "the cabins."

I assumed they would be some place I had yet to see, but instead he led me back to the gathering of odd buildings.

Brian attempted to explain what they were used for, but his expanation fell short. From what I gathered, the children of each different god were placed in specific cabins. He failed to inform me of which cabin I'd be staying in.

What sounded strangly like a conch shell was blown and Brian and I walked up to a pavilian. He pointed at a table full of rowdy looking kids and I sat wordlessly.

In the course of dinner, I discovered that I would be staying in the Hermes cabin until I was claimed by my godly parent. I literally had no clue what that meant, but I decided to go with it to avoid looking stupid.

* * *

Sleeping was out of the question for me. I was a self proclaimed insomniac to begin with, and being surrounded by ten other snoring kids didn't help.

I tried to sneak out of the cabin, but the floor creaked a couple hundred times before I made it to the door.

I looked around at the cabins and tried to remember some of the Greek gods. I knew Hermes because I was staying in his cabin, but the only other god I could remember was Zeus. I knew Brian said his father was someone who started with an _A_, but the name wouldn't come to me.

I wanted to scream. I knew next to nothing about Greek myths, yet here I was sitting in a camp full of people who claimed to be the children of the gods. I was one of them, but I was branded as unknown. It was like I had a disease.

I hadn't been paying attention to where I was going when I tripped. I realized I was laying on the ground in the woods. I shuddered and stood, when I heard a growl. I stifled a scream and turned around slowly. A pair of huge red eyes glowed in the shadows. I backed up quickly, only to trip over my own feet and land with a thud on my back.

A huge black dog the size of a dump truck bounded out of the trees and stood over me.

I was going to die. There was literally no way I could survive this. I closed my eyes and waited for it to kill me, when a huge, wet _thing_ covered me. I opened my eyes just as the dog licked me again.

"Ugh! Gross!" I cried and attempted to get up, but the dog continued showering me in slobber.

I struggled for a minute and just when I gave up hope, someone whistled and the dog turned around, giving me the opportunity to scramble to my feet.

The boy from earlier, Percy, walked out of the woods and sighed. "Mrs. O' Leary, sit!" he commanded and the giant dog plopped down. "Sorry about that," he mumbled awkwardly.

"It's okay," I said, though I was still trying to get the dog slobber off my shoe discretely.

"You know sneaking out is against camp rules," Percy said sternly.

"Oh, I didn't actually know. I'll go—" I stumbled through my words and Percy laughed.

"I was just kidding. But seriously, don't let the harpies catch you," he said.

"When did you first come here?" I asked, attempting to be social.

Percy sat on the ground and I followed his lead. "When I was twelve. How old are you, by the way?"

"Fourteen as of a week ago," I answered quietly.

Percy frowned a bit. "You'll be getting claimed soon," was his simple reply. "All kids are claimed at thirteen. But I guess since you haven't really been here, you'll just be claimed soon."

I shrugged. "To be honest, I'm still hoping this is all a dream," I admitted.

Percy smiled and gave me a sideways glance. "Yeah, it's hard to accept at first. But everyone here is like one big family." His smile faded a tiny bit as he quickly added, "One big, complicated family, but a family none the less."

I couldn't help but smile. I never thought I would find a place to fit in, but Percy made it sound so cliché and wonderful, that I couldn't help but wanting to be a part of it.

**

* * *

**

A/N:

Aw, you guys. I'm tearing up. Not really, but still. I feel so cliché as of now. I'm writing as story where the main character is named after a guy I like. Is that creepy? Probably. Am I gonna tell him? No way in Hades. However (this is where it gets good folks), the band is going to a competition this Saturday and Brennan is sitting next to me, so it's all good in the hood. Oh, and seriously, for all you guys out there, here's a peice of advice: if a girl _obviously_ likes another guy, don't tell her you like her. It's just not cool.

Enough about my boring personal life, and onto the stuff that matters. Brennan isn't a Gary Stu is he? That's a constant fear of mine.

I feel like I got lazy in this chapter. It's really short too, which is bugging me, but writers block _sucks_.

Also, tell me what you think. I'm facing writers block, and I need reviews to fuel my muse. So help a girl out, and press that lovely button down there. Thanks.

* * *

_**ψcamille elisabethψ**_


	4. Impossible

__

**A/N:** Band is life consuming.

_I do not own PJO._

_

* * *

_

_Hydrophobia_

_Chapter Four: Impossible_

* * *

Camp life wasn't so bad. In fact, I kinda liked it.

The cabin leaders for Hermes were the Stoll brothers, and they attempted to take me under their wing.

Let's just say it failed miserably.

I couldn't sneak past a dead man, and my stealing skills were at the level of a five year old. Pranks only ended in my ultimate demise. Let's just say Elisabeth doesn't like having her cabin spray painted.

Finding my fighting style was even more difficult. When I tried archery, Brian taught me. He was really good, but I was absolutely awful. My arrows flew maybe a foot. Elisabeth got a kick out of that.

A friend of Percy's tried to teach me to fight with a knife, but she wasn't much help. I just ended up with quite a few cuts and bruises.

I was no good at any fighting style, to be honest. Percy decided that he would train me in swordsmanship. I warned him that it was a bad idea, but he insisted.

Percy already taught younger campers, so I just joined them. I had expected Percy to teach me one-on-one, but I figured a small group of kids wouldn't be so bad.

Oh boy was I wrong.

I got pumbled. I mean, every kid I spared against beat the living daylights out of me. By lunch time, I had been beaten six and a half times. The half came from a ten year old; he felt bad for me and called it a draw.

Percy gave me a weak smile and patted my back. "It's okay, kiddo. You'll find something," he said reassuringly.

I wanted to believe him, but I could tell he was seriously doubting me. In reality, I was doubting myself more than anything. After a couple of days, it was obvious that I wasn't like the other kids here. I mean, I wasn't fast, strong, talented, or attractive.

See, demigods are beautiful. Our parents are gods, and gods are supposedly beautiful. Therefore, demigods are easy on the eyes. I hate talking about my appearence, but when it boils down to it, I'm not the best looking guy out there. I'm scrawny and short. My skin is clear, but I have freckles splashed across my nose. My black hair never hangs straight or does that awesome swoosh that some guys' hair does. My eyes are dull green, but they look brown most of the time. Only in the right light do they look remotely interesting.

I began to doubt that I was even a demigod. Was it possible to be a quarter-blood? Probably, and with my luck, that's what I was.

But luck was never on my side.

* * *

The pegasi were amazing. Their beauty astounded me.

They were like regular horses with _wings_. Being a jockey, the first thing I looked for in a horse was its racing potential. That palomino pegasus was stunning. He could run faster than any other horse I'd ever seen and when you factored in his flying speed, he could probably run faster than a car could drive. Alright, so I'm exageratting, but you get the point that the thing was _fast._

I figured that if the only thing I was good at was riding, then I would be okay. I spent most of my free time hanging out in the stables.

Percy told me the palomino's name was Troy. Figures they would name a pegasus after something in mythology.

Percy spent a lot of time in the stables, but not near as much time as I did. Percy spent way more time at the beach. When I asked him about it, he told me his dad was Poseidon. I felt a slight tug at the mention of a father.

My stepdad was awesome, don't get me wrong. My mom married him when I was five, so I pretty much thought of him as a father. But there's still no replacement for a biological father.

Brian and I hung out some. He was watching me parade Troy around the riding area one evening when he first brought up the subject of my parentage.

"You don't really fit any stereotypes, you know," he said randomly.

I slid off of Troy and climbed through the fence. "How so?" I questioned.

Brian shrugged. "Apollo kids are good at archery and we're usually musically talented. Demeter kids are good with plants. Poseidon kids love water. Athena kids are smart. Ares kids are scary and violent. Hermes campers are sneaky. You don't really fit any of those descriptions," he said casually.

I tried to stay calm, but my doubts from earlier resurfaced. "Who do you think my dad is?" I asked.

Brian gave another shrug and pulled his drum sticks from his pocket. "Hermes maybe," he said as he began to tap out a beat on the fence.

Troy whinnied sharply and beat his hoof against the ground. "Brian stop, he doesn't like that," I commanded.

Brian looked from me to Troy and back again. "Brennan, he's a pegasus. I don't think he cares," Brian said sarcastically.

Troy whinnied louder and began nervously trotting back and forth. "I'm serious Brian, I really don't think he likes that," I warned.

"How would you know?" Brian scoffed, but he slid his drumsticks back into his pocket.

I shrugged and climbed back through the fence. "I've been around horses pretty much my entire life. They're really not that hard to understand," I answered simply. I resaddled Troy and took off at a fast gallop through the gates.

Brian ran after me a few paces, but gave up when he saw how fast Troy could run. The pegasus tucked his wings in against his sides and we sped along through the strawberry fields.

I leaned forward and urged him to go faster. Pulling a sharp left, I led us around the fields, hitting speeds I'd never felt before. If Troy didn't have wings, I would have entered him in the Kentucky Derby.

Soon, I felt his energy drain and I slowed us into a trot. We cantered back to the stables and I patted his neck as he gulped down water.

Troy looked up at me with his big brown eyes and I swear, he was trying to tell me something. It was like he had a glorious secret locked away and he was dying to tell someone, and I was that lucky soul whom he wanted to tell. But he was just an animal, and he had no secrets to share.

* * *

I had arrived at camp the day of the first game of Capture the Flag, and to be honest, I wasn't that eager to play. The next game was in two weeks, and I knew I needed to improve at sword fighting if I were to survive at all.

I was slowly improving with a sword. _Slowly_. Percy worked with me everyday for an hour, pushing me hard. He wasn't afraid to beat me up a bit, but I knew he was just trying to help.

Brian and I hung out a lot; it seemed like he was possibly my friend. Elisabeth avoided me like the plague. Or at least she tried to.

We saw each other at least three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She taught a class on Greek mythology, and since I was a first year, it was required that I take it. Our "classroom" was outdoors and we sat on benches by the canoe lake.

Elisabeth snatched at every opportunity to make me look stupid. Her piercing eyes would settle on me and a trace of a smile would dance across her lips. Vain attempts to defend myself only ended in embarassment.

Today was a bit more interesting.

"Brennan," Elisabeth snarled. "Who was Eros?"

I hadn't the faintest idea, but I said the first thing that came to mind. "A Greek god? I dunno."

Elisabeth rolled her eyes as a few kids snickered. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with her right now; I had just gotten through with a particularly rough session with Percy and I could hardly imagine the bruises I would find tomorrow.

"Oh, you are hilarious Brennan. Eros was the god of desire and love," Elisabeth said matter of factly.

I scratched my head. "I though Venus is the goddess of love?" I questioned.

"Venus is her _Roman _name, we're talking about _Greek_ mythology here. Aphrodite is the goddess of love. Eros is her son. He's not just the god of love, though; more like lust," she snapped.

I grinned. "He's the god of sex?"

Elisabeth rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Brennan, you are _such_ a boy!" She sighed in defeat. "But yes, he is the god of sex."

"I'm sure you know _all _about that," I mumbled a bit louder than I intended.

"What?" she shrieked.

"Nothing!" I cried, throwing my hands up innocently.

Elisabeth roughly grabbed me by the front of my orange shirt. "What did you say?" she growled slowly.

I gulped and wiggled out of her grasp. "Nothing of importance," I mumbled.

Her glare hardened. "I don't like you, Brennan. And if it wasn't already obvious, I have my reasons," she spat. She pushed me away and said, "Class dismissed." I began to walk away, but she grabbed my shoulder roughly and said, "Not you."

"Elisabeth, I'm sorry if I pissed you off, but you treat me like crap and it's getting annoying!" I yelled.

Elisabeth looked shocked at my tone and was about to snap back when a voice came from behind me. "Elisabeth, leave the kid alone."

I turned around and studied the guy behind me. He was clearly muscular, and those muscles were put on display by his overly tight shirt. He had sandy blonde hair and a strong face. I immediatly felt inferior to him, mainly because he held a sword that extended at least a foot past normal length. He looked like a male model, and he looked down at me.

"James," Elisabeth breathed. Her usually pale face was tinted pink and she hurridly ran her hands through her curly hair.

James nodded at her and then turned to face me. "I wouldn't provoke her, if I were you. She's tough," James said. He gazed at Elisabeth for a long second and held out his arm to her. She took it and smiled goofily. "We should hang out, Lizzy."

"Oh, uh, call me Elisabeth. And yeah, we should," she said dreamily.

I raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?" I asked James.

He smiled and extended a hand. "I'm James Hamilton, son of Eros."

I almost choked as I slowly shook his hand. "Eros? Cool," I said carefully, trying not to burst out laughing.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool," James said before striding off with Elisabeth on his arm.

_What a tool._

* * *

Percy decided I needed more work than anyone else at this camp, so he started training me an extra hour a day. I noticed my appetite increase tenfold and I noticed that I wasn't as scrawny. I was building up some muscle.

I was training on my own one day when Brian walked up. He was wearing black shorts and no shirt. I raised my eyebrows at his attire, but not because he was shirtless. He had a drum hanging off a black harness that stapped over his shoulders.

"Brian, what is that?" I asked.

"Huh, oh this? It's a snare drum," he said proudly.

"I've seen those before. Don't they use those in marching band?" I questioned.

"Yeah. I'm on drumline during the school year," he said and whipped out his handy dandy drumsticks. He started to play and I went back to my training.

After about ten minutes, Elisabeth and James walked into the arena, followed by Percy and Chiron. I had been introduced to Chiron after a few days at camp and frankly, I found him to be a little weird.

"Brennan," Percy said, "ready to train?"

I nodded and Percy pulled out his pen. I never figured out how it worked, but the little pen turned into a gleaming bronze sword. We practiced for about twenty minutes when I realized everyone was watching us. Elisabeth and James were sitting by Brian's now silent snare drum. Chiron stood by watching intently.

"What?" I asked.

"You've gotten good," Brian said simply.

I shrugged and attempted to get back into "the zone" but I could feel their eyes on me.

Percy put his sword away and sat down, tossing me a water bottle. I caught it clumsily and took a deep swig. I looked over at my audience and did a double take. I didn't know why, but the site of James with his arm slung around Elisabeth made me..._uncomfortable._

James noticed my stare and snarled at me. He stood up carefully and unsheathed his huge sword. "Since you've improved so much, fight me," he commanded.

My eyes widened and I shook my head. "James, I'm not that good," I protested.

Percy stood between us. "James, he still has a lot of work to do," he warned, but James pushed him back.

"Come on, Wells," James snarled. "Don't be a baby."

I held up my sword out of instinct and James took that as an invitation to strike. His sword clashed with mine and I kept backing up. He slashed at me again and I swung upward and blocked his blow.

"James stop!" Percy screamed, but Chiron shook his head.

"Let this fight play out," he said softly.

James jabbed at me, and I jumped back. Unfortunately I stumbled and fell over my own feet. James stood over me and laughed. He stabbed his sword into the dirt next to my head.

"Guess you aren't that great afterall," James sneered. He yanked his sword out of the dust and walked away. I felt different. My face was covered in dust and my hair was sweaty. I had never been this embarassed in my entire life. I knew I could have done better had I been ready. I saw Elisabeth frown at me and suddenly there was a roar in my ears. I got up silently and picked up my sword. James was still turned away from me and I snarled at him. I let out a scream of rage and sprinted towards him. He turned around just in time to feel the hilt of my sword slam into his chest. He stumbled back and dropped his sword. I kicked it out of his reach and he scrambled to get it back. He slashed toward me but I blocked the blow and shoved him back down.

"Next time," I snarled, "make sure you know exactly who you're messing with."

I heard muffled voices behind me and James shook his head. "I'm gonna kill you!" he screamed. Before I could protest, he put me in a headlock and slung me over his shoulder. I punched and kicked, but there was little I could do. I had been in this situation before. James ran toward the lake and I felt panic rising.

"James, don't do this!" I begged.

"Next time, maybe you'll realize exactly who _you're_ messing with!" he growled.

I heard hooves behind me and I saw Percy jump off of Chiron. "James put Brennan down!" he yelled.

James laughed. "Percy, you know this is just gonna be funny. Nothing bad can seriously happen to this kid. I mean, it's not like I'm gonna kill him. Just rough him up," James said innocently.

Elisabeth wasn't looking at me. In fact, she was focusing more on her feet. I felt my shame and embarassment build up even more.

In that moment, I knew I was going in the water. I braced myself for the impact as James threw me; but it felt more like falling into a bed of feathers than anything. I knew I was underwater, but I wasn't as terrified as usual. I kicked to the surface and anger surged through me.

Then, the lake exploaded.

Everything within a twenty foot radius was soaked. Well, everything except Percy; he stayed completely dry. The weird thing was, so did I.

No one was staring at me, but at a focal point above my head.

Something blue and glowing floated above me. It was a trident.

"That's not possible," I whispered.

**

* * *

**

A/N:

I got nothin' to say.

Well, other than _my_ Brennan needs to man up. Oh, and we should have beat Desoto Central. Our marching show this year is Stevie Wonder. Stevie _Freaking_ Wonder! Be jealous. We did win the first competition, but we got third place in the second one. So yeah. But the bus ride home was _so_ worth it.

I've been trying really hard to avoid using cuss words, but in actuality I cuss _a lot _so I tend to want to write that way. But I'll keep it as PG as possible.

Like it? Hate it? Tell me! Review, review, review. Gratzi.

_**ψcamille elisabethψ**_


	5. Ambrosia and Vapor

_A/N:_ The main character is no longer named after the boy I like. He's named after my boyfriend(: Oh, and my muse committed suicide, so sorry for the slow updates.

I've been stuck in The Lost Hero craze. 'Cept Piper is obnoxious. Anyone else get the feeling that by the end of the book, she was a total Sue? I got Sue vibes on about page two.

I do not own PJO.

* * *

_Hydrophobia_

* * *

_Chapter Five: Ambrosia and Vapor_

* * *

Children of Poseidon are supposed to love water, and be able to do all sorts of amazing things with the sea.

Oh, me? Nah.

My talents consist of getting dumped in lakes and embarassed in front of the only girl to talk to me in ages. Lucky me.

Interestingly enough, James backed off after the lake incident. Well, he backed off of me. Elisabeth was still his new arm candy, though. I couldn't figure out why that made me so uncomfortable, but it did. Maybe it was the fact that his father was the god of sex, and James had quite the sketchy reputation.

Brian didn't change, really. I kind of got the feeling that he was pretty set in his ways, and he just kinda stuck around. I was grateful for at least one point in my life that stayed relatively the same.

Percy? Oh, you mean my half brother. One would think that he would be pumped to get a brother and that he'd spend all his time hanging out with me. But that's not exactly how it happened. He quit my training and stayed away from me. I trained with the Stoll brothers now. I wanted to stay in the Hermes cabin, but I was forced to move into the Poseidon cabin. Even though we shared a cabin (and a father), Percy still managed to avoid me like the plague.

* * *

I didn't have much stuff at camp. My mom had mailed up three t-shirts and two pairs of shorts. I had been wearing a pair of jeans when I got here, and my riding shirt, so that was all I had. I wasn't the type of kid to wear a bunch of fancy clothes, so that was fine by me.

My move into the Poseidon cabin was easy enough; just wad up my clothes and stuff them into the extra drawer in my new cabin. Percy had shown me around the cabin for about thirty seconds before sprinting off to find his blonde friend.

I spent the rest of the day alone in my new cabin. Interesting, I know.

* * *

I was actually beginning to like my mythology class with Elisabeth. Okay, so I only liked one lesson in particular. Alright, so it was was the only lesson I ever really paid attention to.

Elisabeth snapped at me, as usual, to pay attention this particular day. "Brennan!" she hissed.

I glanced up from my blank notebook. "Yeah?" I said lazily. I was tired and thirsty and frankly, I was sick of people.

Elisabeth rolled her clear eyes. "Do you even know what a pegasus is?"

"Well duh," I said sharply. "A horse with wings." I, of all people, would know. I suddenly realized how snobby I was beginning to sound.

Elisabeth looked a bit offended, but she played it off. She continued, "Do you know who tamed the first pegasus?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Most likely some random guy with a funny Greek name that I'm never gonna remember," I snapped.

"Bellerophon was his name actually," Elisabeth said with a slight edge to her voice.

Some kid raised his hand and gave us a detailed analysis of Bellerophon and his actions. To put it simply, he tamed the first pegasus and killed the Chimaera. He was my half brother, another son of Poseidon.

Elisabeth tossed me a tattered copy of Edith Hamilton's _Mythology_ and said, "I figure this should help."

I walked up to the lake and cracked the book open. I tracked down Bellerophon in the index and looked him up.

He was good with horses too. Not once did it mention he could control water. I felt just a tad better. That is, until I saw Percy in the distance making water spouts. Suddenly, I didn't feel so hot anymore.

* * *

I guess the weirdest part of my life at camp was how fast time went by; it felt like I had only been there a few days, but in reality, I was going three weeks strong.

On the first day of the third week, my life went a little haywire.

I was fighting with Connor, practicing with a wooden sword, while Travis stood by yelling offensive attacks for me to use. I slashed forward, but Connor blocked me and dislodged my sword. He wacked my wrist with his wooden weapon and I crindged back.

"Ow!" I cried. Connor switched spots with Travis and we went at it again. I was exhausted, but I tried to push myself.

The session was cut short by Percy. He ran haphazardly into the arena, obviously out of breath. "Guys!" he gasped. "Trouble...come...Big...House!" His breathing was ragged, as if he had just run ten miles.

We sprinted to the Big House and Chiron cantered out, followed by Brian. Elisabeth and James were already there, looking winded, their hair ruffled. Elisabeth chewed awkwardly for a second then spit out a piece of gum. She gave it a strange look then shrugged.

Chiron looked frazzled, but he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened them, he was calm. "Please sit," he suggested.

We all sat around a wiccer table and Brian nervously drummed his fingers on the surface. Percy paced nervously behind me. Chiron looked around at us and I raised my eyebrows.

"We have a slight issue," Chiron said quietly.

Percy's eyes buldged and he stopped pacing. "Slight? Slight!" His voice was frantic. "The original pegasus is _gone_!"

I leaned forward onto the table and said, "What are you talking about?" Elisabeth was biting her bottom lip nervously.

Chiron shushed me and said, "The original pegasus wandered the wild for thousands of years, and no one was able to locate him. There were sightings here and there, but none where confirmed. However, three days ago I recieved an Iris message from a frantic satyr stating that he witnessed something quite disturbing: a white pegasus with a gilded mane was struggling in a net made of Celestial bronze. The satyr reported that something opened in the sky and swallowed the beast. Only the original pegasus has a gilded mane. I contacted Olympus and they have given me permission to issue a quest."

Chiron paused and looked around. My mouth hung open and Brian's nervous drumming stopped. Percy resumed his nervous pacing and mumbled to himself.

I cocked my head. "What's a quest?" I asked shyly.

James groaned. He impatiently explained what a quest was and rolled his eyes at the end. "Don't you know anything?" he mumbled.

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. "Well what do we do?" I asked.

Chiron sighed deeply and rubbed his head. "Percy get Rachel. We need to issue a prophecy."

"Why are we here?" I asked.

Chiron smiled slightly. "Son of Poseidon fetching the lost Pegasus? You have a talent, Brennan. I trust you with this quest. You will be drawn to Pegasus," he said confidently.

Percy walked back out of the house with a pretty redhead. She was covered in paint splatters and had a splash of gold in her hair. Her eyes were a soft green and she smiled brightly at us. I tried to smile back, but it came out as a grimace.

"Ah, Pegasus trouble?" she asked. Percy nodded and she looked around. Her eyes settled on Elisabeth and they shared a silent conversation. It was like they were both trying to read each other, but neither could open the book. Clear gold eyes stared into green and suddenly Elisabeth blinked. She snarled a bit, but tossed her white hair behind her shoulder and turned her nose up.

Rachel smiled in victory and turned back to us. She was smirking when suddenly she doubled over and rose slowly. She grabbed my shoulders and her eyes were neon green.

Rachel shook me and breathed green vapor in my face. "Listen, child," she hissed.

_The horse tamer stands no chance,  
__The lost beast is stuck in an eternal dance.  
__His captors shall take the soul  
__But its return will take a toll.  
__The sun child must open the way,  
__Or the dancers will steal again on the sacred day._

She collasped and I held her up. I was shaking and my breathing was ragged. I wasn't feeling so great, and my knees were weak. I tried to breath deeply and clear my head, but whatever Rachel blew in my face was making me dizzy.

Percy pulled Rachel off of me and Brian caught me as I fell. But, I didn't fall. My body fell, but I was outside of it.

Everyone was surrounding my body, but Elisabeth gasped and stared at _me_, not my body. "Brennan," she whispered.

Brian noticed her staring and looked up. He shook his head and said, "Everyone back up. He needs some space."

Elisabeth stood up and stared at me. The way she stared was scary. It wasn't a stare, more like she wanted to kill me with her clear eyes. "Brennan, go back to your body," she commanded. I shook my head and she reached up to me, grasping my wrist. She yanked down and pushed me into my body.

My eyes shot open. I rolled over and coughed up blood. I lay panting on the floor and Chiron heaved me up gently.

"It seems as if this quest will be Percy's now. Brennan isn't fit to go," he said sadly.

Percy sighed. "I'm sorry, Brennan," he whispered. "Chiron, should I take Annabeth and Grover?" he asked.

Chiron shook his head. "You need a child of the sun. Will Solace should do. I'd reccomend Will, Annabeth and yourself. You leave first thing tomorrow," Chiron said and walked back into the house.

Brian lifted me up and carried me to the infirmary. I was moaning and mumbling but I couldn't form coherent words. This was _my _quest, but it was passed up to someone more powerful. As usual.

"Mmgah!" I mumbled urgently.

Brian layed me down on a soft white bed. "I wanted that quest just as much as you did, buddy. I dunno, maybe it's the fact that my dad's the god of prophecy, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this quest. Will and Annabeth aren't the right people," he said, almost to himself.

I tried to sit up and talk, but I was dizzy and my breathing was shallow. I started seeing spots that blurred my vision. My breath caught and I choked out more blood than before.

Brian fluttered around doing medical things, calling for help, checking my temperature. I lay gasping for air on the bed when Chiron rushed in. He was holding a book and flipping through it. I could barely make out what he was saying.

_...poison..._

I tried to sit up but Brian pushed me back down gently. I struggled but felt another rush of vertigo. I was freezing and burning up at the same time. I gasped and sat up suddenly. I groaned when my head spun, but I stayed up.

"What's happening?" I cried.

Chiron patted my head and gently made me lay back down. "The vapor is going to start having some side effects," he said softly.

"Don't patronize me!" I commanded.

Brian stepped next to me and shook his head softly. The door pushed open and Elisabeth strode in.

"I won't lie to you," she said harshly. "You give us one shot at a quest, and then you blow it!"

"Well sorry," I mumbled weakly.

Elisabeth pushed Brian out of the way. "You're dying, Wells," she whispered.

"Huh?" I managed, when suddenly I began coughing harshly. Blood spilled from my mouth again and my eyes were wide. I gasped for air, but my lungs couldn't be satisfied.

Elisabeth placed a cold hand on my forehead, and for a second, everything went away. I was happy and healthy. A cool feeling washed over me, like a thin blanket of water, seeking its way to the center of my body.

But the cool feeling washed away, and Elisabeth stood over me again. Her hair fell around her in a wavy halo and her eyes were beautiful and clear and...and...and...

"You're so pretty," I mumbled.

_Shit_. I was gone.

Elisabeth looked surprised, but she shook her head. "Brennan," she whispered. "Stay with me."

I tried. But I heard Chiron whisper to Elisabeth. The words killed me.

_The vapor is poisonous._

"No! Brennan, I can feel you slipping!" Elisabeth was frantic, fluttering her hands and suddenly she put her hand over my mouth. "I forbid you to leave him!" she yelled at no one in particular.

I felt warmer, safer. Elisabeth clamped down harder. Her hand began to glow, or rather something behind her hand was glowing. "Mother, don't let it leave," she begged.

I sucked in a deep breath and opened my eyes wide. "I'm fine," I gasped.

And I was.

Elisabeth collasped on my chest and took several deep breathes. "Brennan?" she whispered. Brian pried her off of me and placed her carefully in a chair. She kept her eyes trained on me, but turned her head to the side.

"He's going to be fine. Just needs three or so days of rest," Brian said, but he kept throwing glances at Elisabeth. "Did your mom help out?" he asked.

Elisabeth nodded and shooed Chiron. The centaur nodded in understanding and left the room.

"Who's your mom?" I asked, rising up onto my elbow.

Elisabeth closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Pysche," she whispered.

"Who's that?" I mumbled.

Elisabeth rolled her eyes and said harshly, "The goddess of the soul, you twit!"

"So that thing you did with the glowing hands? That was my soul...leaving?" I asked quietly, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

Elisabeth nodded and frowned. "Even that wasn't enough to get the quest back," she mumbled.

Brian pulled us close and whispered, "I've been storing up some ambrosia reserves for months. I just had a feeling. I think we can risk giving Brennan some of it. If we give him just the right amount, then he'll be better within a matter of hours. We just have to distribute the doses over the next few hours."

Elisabeth's eyes widened in shock. Apparently, this was some type of rebellion. But she didn't object when Brian rushed off to his cabin to sneak me the food of the gods.

Elisabeth and I sat in awkward silence until she finally asked, "Why did you say I was pretty?"

Leave it to Elisabeth to make things even more awkward.

I opened my mouth but she beat me to the punch. "I mean, it's not like you really think that. It must have been the poison," she said quickly.

"Yeah," I lied. "The poison."

Elisabeth was pretty, but her personality, and her connection with James, kept me from being honest.

Her face fell a bit, and she said, "Well it's not like I find you very pretty either. I mean, just look at your hair."

I ruffled my hair. "What's the matter with my―"

Elisabeth giggled― a rare occurance― and swatted at my hand that was still combing my matted hair. "Your expression is priceless," she said through her laughter.

She really was pretty when she laughed, but I knew her good nature wouldn't last. She'd be back to hating me after I was healthy again.

I thought about her mother, Pysche, goddess of the soul. No wonder her eyes were so deep and clear. No wonder she could read my emotions like an open book. No wonder her stare held so much power.

Elisabeth suddenly straightened when Brian walked back into the room. He had a bag of gold squares and closed the door behind him. He pried the zip lock bag open and carefully handed me one of the squares.

"Nibble," he suggested.

But I stared at the food of the gods and was overcome by desire. I ate the square in one bite and held out my hand for more. Brian's eyebrows shot up, and he refused.

"You'll burn up," he said cautiously and zipped the bag back up. Elisabeth was eying it and squeezed my hand.

"Brian, let's move Brennan to his cabin and I'll watch him for a while; you need rest," Elisabeth said sweetly.

Brian nodded and lifted me up. "I can walk!" I protested. Brian set me down and I wobbled, but held myself up best I could. Elisabeth got on one side of me and helped me walk, and Brian attempted to do the same, but he was too tall for my arm to sling over his shoulder.

So Elisabeth and I hobbled back to my cabin with Brian trailing behind, holding the bag of ambrosia. I shuffled into te empty cabin and sighed. Of course Percy wouldn't be here. He never is.

I shook my head and layed down. I was feeling much better, but a glance in the mirror sent me reeling. My eyes were sunken in and dull. I had deep purple circles under my eyes that made me look like a zombie. My skin was stark white and my lips were dry and cracked.

"What's happening to me?" I asked quietly.

Elisabeth frowned and pushed me onto my bed. "The vapor is eating away at you. That's why you need _rest," _she said harshly. Her mood swings were confusing.

Brian handed her the bag of golden squares and said, "I'll be back in an hour." He pulled Elisabeth to the side and whispered something. She nodded and glanced back at me.

"He will," she said confidently.

Brian left and Elisabeth opened the bag. "We're going to break some rules," she said and grinned mischievously.

* * *

One hour and four ambrosia squares later, I was glowing. I mean literally glowing. My skin was tingling and my forehead was on fire. I was actually burning up.

The odd thing was, Elisabeth was acting weird. She kept glancing at me then quickly looking down. I couldn't hold her eyes for more than a split second. I was tempted to ask her, but I kept my mouth shut.

I bounced around my cabin while Elisabeth attempted to calm me down. I glanced in the mirror a few times and was shocked by my appearance. My hair was silky and fell perfectly. My eyes were bright green, no longer a dull forest green, but more like Percy's eyes. My skin was clear and smooth and my entire body was a shade tanner than usual.

I liked this new me, but I somehow knew that it when the effects of the ambrosia faded, so would my new found beauty. Elisabeth kept throwing glances though, and my confidence soared.

Just as I was running circles around a fountain, Brian walked in.

"Ah, shit," Elisabeth breathed.

Brian turned an odd shade of purple and was about to open his mouth to speak when I slammed into him. I meant to stop, but my legs wouldn't follow the instructions. Brian steadied me and I let out a giggle. Brian glared at Elisabeth and she looked down.

"You could have _killed_ him!" Brian yelled.

"But I didn't," Elisabeth countered softly. "He's fine, just give him time to calm down, then we can go get that quest!"

Brian's eyes lit up and he started biting his lip. "I do want to go on that quest," he said longingly. I nodded behind Elisabeth, trying to sit still.

Brian was about to say something when the door to the cabin swung open and Percy walked in. He glanced at the half empty bag of ambrosia and then up at my suddenly stunning appearence.

"What the Hades did you do?" Percy asked quietly.

* * *

It took a solid three hours of running laps around the arena to burn off the energy I'd aquired via the five ambrosia squares. Elisabeth and Brian sat quietly watching me while Percy kept me running.

A small crowd gathered, but they soon got bored and moved on. I wasn't tired by the end of it, but I wasn't exactly coursing with energy either. I was feeling normal. I kind of hoped I wasn't looking normal, though. I liked being attractive. It was...different.

Percy sighed and stalked off, but I stepped in front of him. "Can I have the quest? Please?" I begged.

Percy glanced around and met Brian's eyes. They must have been pleading, but Percy still shook his head.

I stomped my foot out of frustration and the earth shook. Small cracks appeared around my feet and Percy raised his eyebrows. The cracks sealed themselves as my temper slowly died down.

"I need this quest, Percy," I said urgently. I needed to prove myself to the camp, to...no, not to _her_.

Percy sighed in defeat. "It was meant for you anyway," he said. "Besides," he mumbled, "I'm done with quests."

* * *

_A/N:_ So how do you like the new son of Poseidon? The horse tamer? I kinda like him. And how's about this daughter of Pysche everyone is talking about? Oh, yeah, I like her too. Snare drummer? Son of Apollo? He's a hunk. Oh, that scandolous son of Eros? Hot stuff, right?

But seriously, tell me what you think of the characters. I'd love to know.

_

* * *

_

ψcamille elisabethψ


	6. A Quest

_A/N: I do not own PJO._

* * *

_Chapter Six: A Quest_

* * *

_Quests are scary, dangerous, and down right nasty. Absolutely no amount of training can prepare you for what you will face out there. There is a large chance that you won't come back. Be alert, be clever, be fast. But most of all, be lucky._

The note was simple enough. Just a folded slip of white paper with the words written across it in black ink. Simple.

But the message was mysterious. Even more mysterious was the sender. At first I thought it was Percy, somehow attempting to connect with me as a brother. But I caught a glimpse of his handwriting, and it was nowhere near as neat as the writer of the note's. Besides, he had already proven that connecting with me wasn't very high on his to-do list.

The most mysterious thing about the note was the braided bracelet that was folded inside. It had no adornments, and was made out of some rough material that looked like twine. I slipped it on and forgot about it.

I picked my two quest mates, Brian and Elisabeth. I was very objective to bringing Elisabeth, but she was the one who slipped me the ambrosia, so I felt obligated. But some voice in the back of my head kept laughing at me, questioning whether I would have actually left her behind. I would have. Right?

I wasn't ready.

I didn't know what to do, I didn't know where to start. I didn't even know who has the Pegasus, let alone how I was going to fight them. I was completely lost.

I was pacing my cabin, folding and refolding the note, when Brian walked in and said in a dramatic voice, "It is time, oh mighty son of Poseidon."

I rolled my eyes and mumbled, "I think he claimed the wrong kid."

Brian didn't seem to hear me, but I followed him out of my cabin and to the Big House. Chiron was standing on the porch waiting for us, three neon green backpacks sitting at his feet, er, hooves. Elisabeth was standing behind Chiron, next to James. They were holding hands, but she wasn't smiling.

I looked to Chiron and he nodded. "Where do we start?" I asked.

Chiron scratched his chin. "I was told that the portal was seen around the island of Chincoteague, Virginia. You should start your search there."

Random island? Great. "Uh," I mumbled. "Where exactly is that?"

Chiron smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Just off the Virginia coast." He pulled out a small map and pointed to a pair of tiny islands. "Chincoteague and Assateague were very famous because of a series of books written some time ago. Assateague is a wildlife refuge for the animals that live there."

"What does Assateague have to do with anything?" Brian asked skeptically.

Chiron smiled wryly. "Assateague is home to the only wild horses in the eastern United States. It isn't so well known anymore, but I remember a time when it was very popular. There was a series of books written about it." He paused, taking in our blank stares, and sighed. "I suppose you haven't heard of it. You see, every summer, the people on Chincoteague round up the wild horses and swim them across the channel between the two islands. They sell the young horses to keep the population in check. It's quite a big deal in the town, at least for the natives. They have a sort of festival, and auction off the horses. But regular horses aren't the only equestrian animals that occasionally get auctioned off."

I opened my mouth to speak but Chiron kept talking. "Sometimes, the humans round up pegasi by accident. The pegasi occasionally end up getting sold and we have to send demigods down there to make the switch."

"I still don't see how this is going to help us," Elisabeth said huffily.

Chiron held his smile. "I'll let you figure that out on your own, Miss Henderson. Now, I have three pegasi ready for you at the stables. I would see you off, but I have quite a few Iris messages to send to some old friends of mine. Now scat."

We walked down to the stables just as Percy and a girl were walking out. I recognized the girl, but couldn't put a name to her face. Percy glanced at me awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I got the pegasi ready for you guys. Good luck on the quest," Percy said quickly. He turned to go but I followed him a few paces.

"Percy, I need some help." He seemed stunned by my request, but nodded. "I'm...I'm scared," I said quietly.

Percy's expression softened. "Look, I understand. My first quest terrified me, and trust me, it wasn't all that much fun. But this is what you were born to do. Demigods are born to become heroes. We're like superheroes, but without tights. You follow me?"

I couldn't help but smile and I nodded. "I get it. Sorta. If I come back alive, can you help me with something?" I asked.

Percy shrugged. "Sure. Whatcha need?"

I smiled and said, "I need to pass freshman gym class."

* * *

Our pegasi flew for two hours before they got tired. We stopped just outside of Philadelphia and let them rest up before we took off again.

We touched down in a field on the outskirts of a suburb. There was an old playground across the street and while the pegasi were grazing, we decided to swing.

There was no one around, and the woods behind us were creeping me out, but I didn't want to be the pansy of the group so I kept my mouth shut. Elisabeth was getting some pretty good air on the swing and Brian had pulled a practice pad out of his backpack and was drumming away on top of the slide.

I got on the swing next to Elisabeth and faced the woods. I kept my feet on the ground, slowly pushing myself back and forth. I fiddled with my new bracelet and Elisabeth laughed high above me.

"Friendship bracelet?" she asked sarcastically. I chose to ignore her.

I twisted it around and grabbed the ends. Just as I was about to pull them tighter, I heard a voice. Not just any voice, but something sweet and young, something familiar.

"Kim?" I said outloud. It couldn't be my little sister. She was all the way back in Chattanooga, or probably at the beach by now. But it was her voice, singing a song about flowers blooming. She was singing that song in the car the last time I saw her.

I got up from my swing and started walking to the woods. I saw Elisabeth follow me, and she grabbed my shoulder.

"Brennan, where are you―" I shook her hand off and began running towards the woods.

My little sister was in those woods. She was probably scared and cold, not to mention alone. I took off in a full sprint. Her singing got louder and I called her name. "Kim? Kim! It's me, Brennan! I'm―"

I hit the ground hard and Elisabeth straddled my chest. "You can't just run into the woods unarmed!" she yelled. "Do you want to get killed?"

I struggled but she held me down. "My sister is in there!" I cried. "Can't you hear her singing?"

Elisabeth let out a laugh. "That's―"

She was cut off by a shrill scream―Kim's scream. I shoved Elisabeth off me and sprinted away. I wove in and out of trees, cutting my arms on thorns and branches. Kim wasn't singing anymore, but I pushed farther into the woods, and I heard the light steps of Elisabeth behind me. Not far behind her was Brian.

I burst into a small clearing and stopped dead. Instead of my little sister, there was a huge red dog.

Actually, calling it a dog was being kind. The thing was a hideous. Its fur was caked with mud and dirt. Its face was matted with dried blood and it had ridges of bone in place of teeth. It opened its mouth and Kim's sweet voice came out, singing that song about flowers.

I began to back up, only to bump into Elisabeth, who bumped into Brian, who fell down. I gapped at the creature and it let out a cackling laugh that was all too human.

Brian was on his feet within seconds, ripping his golden bow off his back, and had an arrow pointed at the beast. Elisabeth pulled a clip out of her hair and it turned into a bow as well. I was left weaponless, because I left my practice sword with my pegasus, Troy.

The two archers circled around and nodded slightly to each other. They both released an arrow at the same time, peircing the dog in the sides. It howled and bounded forward, straight at me.

I turned to run but it jumped and landed on top of me. I felt a sickening crunch and my left side exploaded in pain.

I punched and kicked but the thing wouldn't get off of me. I felt arrows being thrust into the beast, but it never fell. It barred its bony teeth at me and I crossed my arms over my face, a feeble attempt at defending myself.

Something shiny caught my eye. Dangling from the end of my bracelet was a small bronze charm, no bigger than half my pinkie fingernail. It had a tiny trident carved into the face. As a last hope, I yanked on the string just as I felt teeth sink into my arm.

Something grew in my hands. I heard a yelp and whimpering of an animal. I heard my screams of pain. I heard Brian and Elisabeth talking faintly in the distance. I couldn't focus on any one thing, so I put all my energy into listening.

Something was dragged off of me and Elisabeth pulled out a bag of ambrosia. I could hear the ziplock being pulled open and the rustle of plastic. Soft hands pulled my mouth open and dropped something sweet into it. I heard a bottle being opened and warm liquid rolled down my throat.

My vision slowly returned, but so did the pain. My left side felt like a bulldozer had run me over, and my arm was burning. In my hand I held a sword, but the fact didn't register.

"What was that?" I asked softly, my voice cracking because my throat was so dry.

Elisabeth pushed a curl out of her face. "Leukrokota. It's a monster, obviously. It's sort of like a hyena. Its teeth are made of bone and it can perfectly imitate human voices."

I wiped blood from my mouth and looked up at her. "But how did it know what my sister sounds like?" I asked slowly.

Elisabeth stood up and offered her hand. "Come on, we need to keep moving." I sat up carefully but didn't take her hand.

"How did it know my sister's voice?" I asked slowly.

Elisabeth and Brian exchanged a pained look. "Brennan," Brian began.

I stood up violently. "What happened to my sister?" I demanded.

Elisabeth took my hand in hers. "Brennan, I'm really sorry. But leukrokota usually only speak the dying words of their last victim," she said slowly.

"So that thing...my sister...my baby sister...it killed her..." My voice trailed off and I sank back down. Pain rocketed through my body and I choked back a sob. This wasn't real, couldn't be real.

Elisabeth sat down next to me and put her arms around my shaking frame. Brian stood above us, looking down with wide brown eyes.

"Shh," Elisabeth cooed. She rested her head softly against my neck and rubbed her hand up and down my arm. I finally let out a strangled sob.

Brian had walked across the clearing and knelt down. He picked up something made of bronze. I recognized it through my haze because it was so familiar.

It was a bronze horseshoe.

* * *

_A/N_: This is gonna be a long one, folks. Ready?

1. This story, along with two others, has been nominated for the Verita Award. I'm so flattered. You have no idea how flattering it is to have three stories up for this award. The stories are _Hydrophobia, From the Foam of the Sea_, and _Jackalopes and the Moon_. Voting starts Dec. 7, so I'd love it if I could rack up some votes.

2. I finished reading _The Hunger Games_ and I fell in love with it. Expect perhaps in the distant future a possible fic for that.

3. I wrote my first non-Percy Jackson fic this weekend. You see, Elise was out of town, it was rainy, and I was bored. So I wrote an _Avatar: The Last Airbender _story. If you've seen that show, please go read and review. I've only got like four reviews, and I worked so darn hard on it.

4. I broke up with Brennan. He's just stupid. Like, he's not smart at all. I'm a freaking genius next to him. You have no idea. I'm not ending this story or changing any names, because that'd be retarded. However, I've never been happier. I kinda like being single. Plus, now I'm free to join Artemis. Freedom is a beautiful thing.

5. I'm really slow with PMs and reviews right now. I've read all the stories people have asked me to, but I haven't reviewed yet. I'm really sorry about that, so just keep bugging me until I do. I promise I won't bite you...hard...

6. Has anyone heard of Chincoteague and Assateague? Anyone?

Please insert a happy face after every point in this author's note. [Insert cute happy face here.] :D

Tell me what you think please. AND REVIEW :D

* * *

_**ψcamille elisabethψ**_


	7. I Make Out With a Monster

A/N: I do not own PJO.

* * *

Hydrophobia

* * *

Chapter Seven: I Make Out With a Monster

* * *

Brian twisted the shoe around in his fingers and Elisabeth stood slowly. I stared blankly at the pile of sand next to their feet. That pile of sand had been the monster that killed my sister, my baby sister. My...my mother!

I sprang to my feet and rushed away from the clearing. I sprinted back to the pegasi with my friends hot on my trail, calling for me to slow down.

I flung my legs over Troy and whistled. Troy galloped a few paces then took off. I considered flying to find my mother, but I had no idea where she was. So instead I flew to the town and touched down behind a building.

I sprinted into the street and straight into a girl. She had bright blue eyes and straight blonde hair. I grabbed her shoulders to steady her, and ran in the opposite direction, until I realized that someone was shouting my name. I thought it was Elisabeth, so I sprinted harder, straight through a crowd.

I ran into a woman and she shouted at me and grabbed my arm. "Young man!"

I struggled and screamed, "Lemme go!"

"I have half a mind to take you to the police!" she said huffily and squeezed my arm.

I twisted my arm and she yelped when I broke free. My jacket caught on her purse and I accidentally dragged it with me. I figured that out just a little too late.

"Thief!"

Shit.

I dropped the bag quickly and ran as fast as I could. My foot caught on something and I fell hard, scraping my face against the ground. Someone pulled me up roughly and twisted my arms behind my back. I squirmed but someone pushed on my neck and my vision went black.

When I woke up, I was falling.

At least, it felt like I was falling. My eyes snapped open and I surged backward and my head slammed into something hard. I heard a slight yelp and turned around.

"Kim!" I gasped.

Her blonde hair hung around her face, the random stray hairs outlined by the light of the sunset behind her. She smiled brightly at me, rubbing her forehead, where a knot had already began to form.

"But...Kim! How?" I stammered.

Her pretty smile faded she stroked Troy's golden hide. Her clothes were tattered and her wide blue eyes were frantic.

"The monster...he got me. He hurt me." She stuck her leg out over the empty sky. The was a huge gash running down her skin.

I glanced around, locating Brian and Elisabeth on their pegasi. "Brian!" I shouted.

He nodded to me and pulled up as close as he could.

"What are we gonna do about Kim?" I asked, speaking loud to be heard over the wind.

Brian smiled and shouted, "Send her to camp!"

"But she can't get in; she's mortal!" I argued.

Kim tapped me on the shoulder and shook her head. My mind was racing. Kim was only two years younger than me, so I didn't remember her birth, but she was most definitely mortal. She couldn't be a demigod, that's not...possible.

I had said the same thing about my parentage.

Kim smiled brightly and the setting sun reflected fire in her eyes. Just then the pegasi began to desend. Troy had a steady landing, and I hopped off quickly, pulling Kim down with me.

"Someone get mom on the phone," I demanded.

Elisabeth laughed and stroked her white pegasus. "Demigods can't use cellphones, twit. It's not that hard to understand, though," she said, gesturing to Kim. "Your mom had sex with Poseidon, then married your stepdad a year after you were born, right? Well, she had sex with another god and got pregnant. To cover her tracks, she claimed that Kim was your stepdad's child, but she's a demigod. However, since we don't know who her parent is, we're assuming she's another daughter of Poseidon."

"Thanks for telling me that my mom's a whore," I mumbled.

"You're welcome," Elisabeth said happily.

"Well how do you know she's even a demigod if she hasn't been claimed?" I asked.

Brian looked up from the ground and said, "There was a tiny fern in her hands when we found her. She told us that a boy with goat legs was taking her to some camp."

Kim teared up a little but cleared her throat. "His name was Danny. The same kid that took you," she said shakily. She pulled a tiny green plant from her pocket. "The monster killed him first. Danny had asked me to sing to pass the time, and halfway through the song the thing came and killed him. I think I screamed. Then I blacked out and we were in the woods. The thing was sleeping, I think, and I ran into the town. I was so scared, Brennan. I had no idea what to do. Then you sprinted out of the alley and ran into me. You didn't even look at me. Then your friends got me and the guy tackled you. It was terrifying." She wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her face into my shirt. "I wub you," she mumbled, the words distorted by the fabric.

I smiled weakly and hugged her tightly. "I sure as hell wub you too," I said shakily.  
Kim looked up and smiled, her eyes bright again. I hadn't seen her smile in so long. I missed it.

"Alright, kiddo, let's get you to camp," I said, breaking her death grip on my waist. We were standing on an abandoned beach, and Elisabeth had waded out into the water.

"Guys!" she called. "Come swim!"

Brian immediately whipped his shirt off and dove in. Kim laughed and pulled off her shoes. She took off in a sprint then turned around when she realized I wasn't coming. She walked slowly back to me and took my hand.

"Brennan?" she asked. "Who is your father?"

But I didn't hear her. I was looking straight into the water. Something was down there. Something almost human. Something beautiful. Something...magical.

I released Kim's hand and took off into the water. But as soon as the cool liquid hit my toes I stopped short. I took a deep breath and told myself that this wasn't water to me anymore, but another bit of air. I closed my eyes and imagined myself walking straight into the water.

When my eyes snapped open I was completely submerged. I screamed and kicked up, but something was holding me down. I never intended to go underwater.

I was going to die.

I kicked harder and my foot hit flesh. A small yelp reached my ears and I looked down. I screamed even louder when I realized it was a girl. She wacked my foot and giggled.

"Stop kicking!" she commanded, and I slowly stopped.

I floated down, steeling my nerves, so that I was eye level with her. She was pretty, but there was something other worldly about her. The way her dark hair floated around her pale face, and her blue eyes were wide and bright, but she seemed too beautiful, almost fake.

Her eyes widened and she smiled at my gaping. "Demigods are so silly," she said, giggling.

I shut my mouth and tried to talk, but her hand wrapped around my wrist and she pulled me down, deeper into the water.

"What's your name?" I asked as I tried to keep from vomiting.

She glanced back over her shoulder and smiled coyly. "I'm a nymph, silly. That's all you need to know."

I tried to smile, but I grimaced. We kept going deeper and deeper, and I could feel the walls of water caving in on me. I was going to―

"Demigod?" She snapped her fingers in front of my face.

I blinked and realized we had come to a stop. I glanced around, trying to figure out where we were, but I had a gut feeling that it was somewhere in the ocean.

Wow, great job, Brennan. You can figure shit out!

I tried to free my wrist, but she held on tightly. "Demigod? Where are you going?" she asked.

I squirmed a bit but she was staring at me intently. I caved and said, "I'm on a quest. I need to find Pegasus. Do you have any idea where―"

She clamped a hand over my mouth. "Stop talking!" she commanded.

I looked at her in shock and she removed her hand slowly. "Why would you―"

Her lips crashed down on mine before I could even register what she was doing. I pushed her back quickly and rocketed upward.

I broke the surface of the water and cleared about a foot before splashing back down. The nymph was close behind me when she surfaced, but something was different about her.

Elisabeth screamed from the shore and pulled her bow off her back. She notched an arrow and I swam faster. The arrow whizzed passed my ear and hit the nymph.

But when I turned to look back at the nymph, her eyes were glowing red and huge fangs had grown from her mouth. Her hair was on fire, and she was catching up to me, fast.

I swam faster, but she was catching up fast. My feet touched sand and I was able to move faster onto the shore. I sprinted onto the beach and tumbled over my own feet. Kim was frantically backing up as Elisabeth and Brian held form in front of her.

Something cold hit my wrist, and I remembered my bracelet. I yanked the charm and a huge bronze sword grew in my hands.

"Whoa!" I cried. The monster turned to face me and smiled. Or at least I think she smiled; it looked more like a grimace to me.

She charged forward and hissed at me. I instinctively lifted my sword and held my ground. I was terrified, but I needed to be strong for Kim. And Elisabeth would never let me live down another defeat. Oh wait! I wouldn't be around if I lost this fight. Great.

With that thought, I surged forward with all my strength, thrusting my sword into the monster. I thought she would disintegrate, but instead she smiled and pushed herself farther up the blade, barring her fangs at me. She pushed back, using my chest as a springboard, and flew off my sword.

The sound was sickening, a horrible crunching noise, but somehow liquid. I held my breathe to keep from vomiting.

The monster smiled wickedly at me and charged again. She was almost right on top of my when she stopped short.

Her skin was hissing and bubbling, her eyes turned to liquid. She exploded, leaving me covered in a smoking black mess of sizzling tar. A single gold arrow had peirced her temple.

Kim stood panting with a bow in her hands not ten feet away. She dropped to her knees and her whole body was shaking violently. I rushed to her side, but her eyes widened and she screamed in terror.

Elisabeth pushed me out of the way and cradled my little sister in her arms. "You're covered in empousae guts," she whispered.

I looked down and bit my lip, which was a mistake because I got guts in my mouth. I considered going into the water, but I started shaking at the thought. I couldn't handle it.

So I had to be content to let the tar dry into a thick crust then chip it off slowly. Brian helped a bit, but there was little he could do, so he helped Elisabeth comfort my shell shocked little sister.

Then it dawned on me that I had kissed a monster.

"Ahhh!"

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the horribly short chapter but I'm leaving town this morning and I wanted to go ahead and post this. I'm also terribly sorry for the long wait. JUNIOR YEAR IS CRAZY.

As always, tell me what you think, please and thank you.

Grasias, mi amigos. Oh Spanish. I'm in Latin III, so Spanish should be easy. But here's the kicker: I don't know Latin! Hahahah! Oh wait. That's a bad thing...

When did I start rambling? Buhbye (:

* * *

_**ψcamille elisabethψ**_


	8. Another Form of Insanity

**Hydrophobia**

* * *

_Chapter Eight: Another Form of Insanity_

* * *

We camped on the beach that night, under a perfect, cloudless sky.

We had no idea where we were, so Elisabeth and Brian pulled out an old roadmap and tried to figure it out. They weren't having much luck by sunset, so they just gave up.

We built a fire and a makeshift tent out of the tarp Brian had brought. Brian had a small backpack that had some nifty little features; he said it had been a gift from his father. The bag was able to hold anything and everything, but never got heavier or bigger.

It was by far the most convenient thing I'd seen since the Snuggie.

I was huddled in the tent with Kim trying to comfort her, but she was still shaking violently. I wrapped my arms around her but she shook me off.

"Kim, please talk to me," I begged for the hundredth time.

She just stared blankly ahead. Finally, she fell asleep on the soft sand and I walked outside of our shelter. Brian and Elisabeth were eating out of a box of crackers next to the small fire.

I sat next to Elisabeth in the sand and she shook the box at me. "Want some?" she asked.

I dug my hand eagerly into the crackers. "Thanks."

Brian stood up and brushed the crumbs off his lap. "I'm exhausted. I'll be in the tent," he said and waved.

Elisabeth hugged her knees. "I'm worried about your sister," she said quietly.

"Me too. She seems so scared," I whispered.

Elisabeth shook her head and turned so she was facing me. "I'm worried about her father. It's obviously not Poseidon." I cocked my head and opened my mouth but she kept talking. "I can tell. I can read people really well. I knew you were different, Brennan. You were harder to understand though."

I leaned forward a bit, intrigued. "Why?"

Elisabeth smiled slightly and shrugged. "I don't know. You're breaking down stereotypes though," she said and nodded towards the crashing waves. "You and Percy don't have the same . . . I don't even know how to describe it. Aura, maybe? Percy's aura is confident and sure, but soft. Yours is different. Less sure, but less soft. Less fluid. I don't know." She threw her hands up slightly and pursed her lips.

I laughed softly and leaned back. "Good to know."

Elisabeth blushed slightly and turned her body away again. "Don't make fun of me."

"I'm not," I said quietly and reached my arm around her.

She turned her head around and stared at me for a long moment. Then she shifted her body back around and settled into my arms. After a long silence, I glanced down and found her sleeping peacefully. I took her appearance in. Her pale hair was braided and slung over one shoulder, and her face was serene.

She was really quite pretty when she wasn't scowling.

* * *

Elisabeth woke up first, and in turn, her slight stirring woke me. I had been leaning against one of the wooden stakes we thrust deep into the sand to tie the pegasi down to, and my back was killing me.

Elisabeth yawned and looked up at me. I smiled slightly at her bed-head and she ruffled my hair up, smirking at her handiwork. I swatted her hand away softly and she sat up off me and stretched.

She stood and unbraided her tangled hair, running her fingers through it. I stood and stretched as she combed the pale ringlets flat.

"Don't uncurl your hair," I said suddenly without thinking.

She turned around and looked at me quizzically. "Why not?" she asked.

I blushed and opened my mouth to say that I liked the perfectly messy spirals, but Brian stumbled out of the tent and yawned. "What's on the agenda for today, quest leader?" he asked, slinging his long arm around my shoulder.

I shrugged, both to show my indecision and to get his arm off me.

"I got an Iris message from camp. Chiron said we need to send the pegasi back," Brian said, untying the ropes that held our three pegasi to the wooden stake. "They've been gone too long."

Kim peeked out of the tent. "Brennan? I need to talk to you," she said calmly. I immediately rushed into the tent and sat down next to her. We sat in silence for a long moment, just staring at each other.

"I don't want to go to this camp without you," she said suddenly.

I shook my head. "This quest is too dangerous for you to be on. You haven't had any training and you don't have a weapon," I said

firmly.

"Brennan you haven't been gone that long. You've had three weeks of 'training', but do you really think that's enough? So far, you've almost gotten yourself killed twice. _I_ saved you from that second monster, and Elisabeth said that she and Brian killed the first one," Kim said angrily. "Face it Brennan, you _suck_ at being a demigod!"

I stood up violently. "Trust me, I'm well aware! I know I can't fight! I know I'm a horrible son of Poseidon! I _know_ I'm the worst demigod in fucking history!" I shouted.

Kim glared up at me. "You always did get too angry," she said quietly. She threw open the tent door and stormed out of our makeshift shelter.

I glanced around the tent and realized our things had been shaken up. I walked out of the tent and Elisabeth rushed forward. "What the hell did you do?" she yelled, whacking my chest with the back of her hand.

I looked around, and everything seemed fine, but Elisabeth and Brian looked slightly unnerved. "What are you talking about?" I asked innocently.

"I'm talking about the damn stunt you just pulled! Do you honestly think the mortals will react well to an earthquake that wasn't along a major fault line? They're gonna _freak_!" Elisabeth yelled.

"There wasn't an earthquake," I said with surprise.

"_You _made one!" Brian explained.

I just stared at him.

Elisabeth hooked her arm into mine and pulled me towards the woods. "Get on. You and I are going to find the nearest town and get directions while Brian and Kim clean up camp," she said briskly.

"I don't think it's a good idea to get separated," I said carefully.

Elisabeth scowled. "No one asked you."

* * *

We ended up getting hopelessly lost, smack dab in the middle of the woods.

"Well this is just _great_!" Elisabeth groaned sarcastically.

"I kinda like it," I said, turning away from her. A pinecone whizzed past my face. "You missed!" I turned around just in time to be nailed by another one.

Elisabeth unfolded a map and studied it closely. I quietly walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder. "You've got it upside down," I said.

She jumped slightly and elbowed me. Nevertheless, she turned the map right side up, and nodded.

I sat down on a tree stump and sighed. "This sucks," I mumbled.

"You suck," Elisabeth said without looking up.

"Your mom sucks," I yelled.

Elisabeth rolled her eyes and pushed me off the stump, taking my spot. She ruffled the map, and the forest was quiet again, except for the sound of running water.

A light bulb went off inside my head. "Elisabeth! If we can find the creek, we can follow it back to the ocean!" I said, standing up and throwing my hands up.

She stood with me and threw her arms around my neck, and I wrapped my arms around her waist. "You're a genius!" she cried.

We stood like this for a moment, embracing each other, until she backed up awkwardly.

"Let's go," she said quietly. I nodded in agreement.

* * *

Finding the creek proved to be more difficult than we'd imagined. Neither of us had exceptional skills concerning navigation, and our ears led us in different directions.

"It's this way_, I swear_!" Elisabeth exclaimed, pointing into a thick patch of trees.

I sighed. "We've already been that way!" I argued.

Elisabeth put her hands on her hips. "Uh, earth to retard? Who's obviously smarter than you?" she snarled.

I rolled my eyes. "Uh, earth to bitch? Who's obviously smarter than _you_? _That tree_!" I shouted, pointing to a willow tree.

Elisabeth glared at me and shoved me into said willow. The branches shook and the bark cut my arm.

"Ow!" Elisabeth exclaimed.

"What did _you_ say ow for? You weren't the one who got shoved into a tree!" I said angrily.

Elisabeth rolled her clear eyes. "I didn't say anything, stupid. You're imagining things now. What, have you broken into my LSD?"

"Oh yeah, definitely. Because I'm such a freaking pot head," I said sarcastically.

"Pot isn't LSD, you dumbass. Pot is weed," Elisabeth corrected me.

"Well ain't it great that you know so much about drugs," I snapped.

"Shut up!" Elisabeth yelled, getting in my face for the first time since camp.

"Back the hell up!" I warned her.

"Oh you two are just absolutely _adorable_!"

Elisabeth and I looked up at the same time and immediately she pulled her hair clip off, and I tugged on my bracelet string.

With our weapons at the ready, we backed away from each other, when a girl dropped down from the branches of the willow tree and landed in front of us.

"Bows? Swords? Hah! Against an immortal, you have no ground!" she laughed. Her hair was a strange shade of gold, and her eyes were crystal green.

Elisabeth strung a golden arrow. "Who are you?" she asked boldly.

The girl smiled and the sun glinted off her eyes. Carefully watching her, I lowered my sword.

"I'm Willow," she said sweetly, gingerly touching the tip of Elisabeth's arrow, gently nudging it down. Elisabeth thrust it back up, aimed at the girl's throat.

"Back into the tree, nymph," Elisabeth snarled.

The girl smiled. "My name is Willow. I love sunlight, water, and long walks on the beach."

Elisabeth lowered her bow carefully. "She's harmless," she muttered. I tugged my bracelet again and my sword returned to its compact form.

Willow continued to smile at us. "You two are fantastic. Just darling, really," she said giddily.

Elisabeth gagged. "_Him_? No. I have―"

"She has a boyfriend," I finished.

Willow frowned. Elisabeth gasped. "That's not what I was going to say! And James is _not_ my boyfriend!" she said huffily.

"Could have fooled me," I mumbled.

"James is obsessed with me, Brennan."

"I think it's a mutual obsession, Elisabeth. Besides, you two are just picture _perfect_." I snarled, walking away from the two girls.

Willow was at my side in a flash, holding onto my arm. "You should go for it," she whispered. "If she says she's not with the other boy, why not?"

I laughed. "That's funny. See, she's kinda sorta _insane_," I stated simply.

"Love is another form of insanity," Willow said, and let go of my arm.

I stared at her for a second, and then walked back to a bewildered Elisabeth. "Let's find the damn creek," I muttered.

"Creek?" Willow said. "Oh, it's right over the hill." She pointed to the slight ridge that her tree was on and popped back into the willow with a puff of green vapor.

We climbed up and Elisabeth smiled at the gushing water. "Told you it was this way," she said smugly.

"You're insane," I said.

"You love me though," she countered.

I nearly choked. "Love?" I said, blushing bright red.

"Sarcasm, Brennan. Don't lose your lunch. Though it's lovely to know that I repulse you," Elisabeth said, rolling those clear eyes.

"You don't repulse me," I said quietly.

She looked at me carefully, analyzing me. "Good," she finally said.

* * *

We followed the creek a bit until we hit a fork.

Elisabeth threw her hands up in exasperation. "What now?" she exclaimed.

"Now, we chill," I said and sat down on the bank. I pulled my shoes off and stuck my feet in the freezing water.

Elisabeth glanced at me and sighed. She sat next to me and leaned back, lying down. "How do you do it, Brennan? Stay so calm all the time?" she said softly, rolling over to face me and propping up on her elbow.

I shrugged. "I don't. You saw me this morning. I was furious. How do you do it? Be so good at being a demigod?"

Elisabeth laughed, a loud genuine laugh. "I don't. None of us are good at it. We just have to try our best and hope we don't die. It's really all luck."

"That's what my note said," I mumbled absently.

"What note?" Elisabeth asked.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the crumpled note. Elisabeth scanned the lines and shrugged. "I dunno who sent it," I said.

"It's true, you know. All of it. We're probably going to die," she said simply.

I laughed weakly. "And what would you say if I told you I didn't care?"

Elisabeth sat up. "I'd say you were very brave. And very stupid. But very, very brave."

I had a sudden urge, an urge so random and so impulsive that it just might work . . .

"I am brave," I said boldly, challenging her.

"Oh yeah?" Elisabeth smirked at me. "Prove it."

I stood and pulled her up with me. "That's easy. But you have to close your eyes," I commanded.

Elisabeth arched an eyebrow. "But then I won't be able to see just how _brave_ you are," she said skeptically.

"It's not something you need to see," I said confidently.

Elisabeth walked a slow circle around me. "You've changed," she said carefully. "Your aura is brighter."

I smiled. "Close your eyes."

Elisabeth widened her clear gold eyes carefully, and then shut them gently. "Make it quick," she said softly.

I mustered every bit of strength I had, then, very slowly, I leaned towards her . . .

. . . Just as a hellhound pounced into the clearing.

* * *

**A/N:** A reviewer told me Brennan should be a girl. I'm not changing anything, but do you think he should have been a chick? Tell me.

I gots a beta! My first beta _**ever**_. This is quite the accomplishment for me. The Midnight Doe is my beta, guys. She's super awesome and a great writer. So I figured she'd make a good beta, and I was right. Thanks, Doe :D

Gah. This is moving too fast. Problem? I think yes. REIN IN THE ROMANCE, GURLFRANND.

Brennan + Elisabeth = ?

* * *

_**ψcamille elisabethψ**_


	9. Willow

**A/N:** I do not own PJO.

* * *

_**Hydrophobia**_

* * *

_Chapter Nine: Willow_

* * *

Elisabeth opened her eyes and pushed me back. She pulled her hair clip out, and instantly had an arrow strung. I had my sword at ready moments later.

We glanced at each other and nodded. I charged in, slashing upward and cutting the hellhound's side.

Arrows sprouted from its hide, but it was huge, and didn't fall. Elisabeth notched arrow after arrow, but nothing seemed to kill it.

I kept slashing, but I missed most of the time. I realized the thing had one weak spot that Elisabeth couldn't reach with her arrows.

I backed away, and sucked in a gulp of air. The hellhound was focused on Elisabeth and her arrows, so I took my chance and dove under it.

I stabbed upward blindly and heard it yelp. The hellhound fell on top of me and growled deeply.

_Shit._

I was being crushed by the massive weight of the hellhound, and I heard Elisabeth yelling from the other side of this furry wall.

"Brennan!" she screamed desperately.

I felt around for my sword and finally grasped the hilt. It was lodged under the thick belly of the dog and I yanked it free easily. It was too late to realize that it was easy because the hellhound was standing up to pounce on Elisabeth.

I ran out from under it and backed up quickly. I sprinted at a stump, and used it as a springboard to catapult myself onto the hellhound's back.

Unfortunately, my sword didn't come with me. It slipped out of my grasp as I landed on the dog's back.

Elisabeth was down to her last two arrows and she carefully but quickly notched one.

"No!" I cried. She looked at me in bewilderment as the hellhound thrashed around, trying to shake me off. "Throw me both!"

She glanced around, then did as she was told. I barely caught the first arrow, but the second one flew right into my hand.

I lifted one above my head and stabbed downward into the still thrashing hellhound's neck. It howled and attempted to throw me off, but I held on tightly.

I took the second arrow and kissed it lightly for luck. I jabbed the arrow deeply into the thick skin of the hellhound's neck and it slumped, tossing me onto the ground. I rolled into the creek and sat up into the shallow, frigid water to watch the monster dissolve.

I stood up weakly and Elisabeth gaped at me.

"That was possibly the stupidest thing I've ever seen!" she cried and rushed forward, throwing her arms around me. "I thought I had lost you," she whispered.

I hugged her back and smiled weakly. "I'm still here. And we still have a quest," I reminded her. She pulled back.

"Right," she muttered.

We stared at the fork in the creek and sighed. "Let's go back to Willow," I suggested. Elisabeth shrugged and turned on her heel, silently walking away.

"What? Aren't you supposed to say that that's the worst idea you've ever heard?" I said sarcastically, following after her.

Her shoulders shook with silent laughter as I caught up to her. "Brennan, this is a horrible idea. Happy?" she said nudging me gently with her elbow.

"Very happy," I said quickly, racing ahead of her.

We raced back to Willow's tree and Elisabeth climbed the crest of the hill first. She stopped short in her tracks and I bumped into her, causing us to tumble over each other down the hill. We ran head first into the willow tree.

Or what had been the willow tree.

In place of the tall willow tree was a blackened skeleton, the ashes still smoldering. Elisabeth stood and touched the burnt bark.

I heard sobbing from the other side of the once huge tree, and I walked around to find the source.

Willow sat drying her tears with a blackened leaf, and when it crumbled to dust in her tiny fingers, her sobbing worsened.

"Willow!" I cried, unsure of what to do.

"Oh, demigod! You came back!" She threw her arms around me and sobbed on my shoulder.

Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, and golden blood spilled from her wounds onto my tattered orange shirt.

"Willow, what happened?" Elisabeth asked, joining us.

Quickly, Willow's posture changed. She slumped back down and resumed her crying. "They tried to kill me. And they did it, too. They did it because I helped you. I'm dying, demigods. Can't you see that my skin no longer glows with youth and beauty? Aphrodite walks these woods often; she said I was her favorite nymph. She often gifted me with her presence. Can you tell her that she was also _my_ favorite goddess?" Willow asked weakly, her small frame shaking.

Elisabeth knelt next to her and I sunk down to more easily hold her up in my arms. "Of course we can tell her for you," Elisabeth whispered.

Willow pulled out a tiny acorn. "Give this to her, will you?" She pressed the seed into my palm and smiled at me. "Lean closer, demigod." I did and she lightly touched my cheek. "I told them you would be back to help me. They laughed at me and said demigods helped only themselves. Prove them wrong."

Elisabeth's eyes widened. "Prove who wrong? Who?" she asked frantically.

"The dancers," she said softly.

Willow kissed my forehead lightly and smiled at me. Her eyes shut gently and her breathing slowed. A single tear ran down her cheek, leaving a path clear of soot. Her body slowly disolved, leaving a tiny daisy in her place.

Elisabeth picked it up and marched with determination back to the creek, and I followed her quickly. Without a word, she dug and small hole and planted the daisy on the banks of the creek, out of the shadow of the dead willow tree.

Elisabeth wiped her eyes and I looked at her with bewilderment. "Are you . . . crying?" I asked in surprise.

"_No!" _she shouted. Then she looked up and her clear eyes were rimmed with tears. "Yes," she whispered weakly.

I didn't know what to do, so I awkwardly patted her back. She looked up slowly and wrapped her arms around my waist, sobbing into my chest.

"I'm so sick of being a demigod," she whispered.

I shushed her and comforted her as best I could, but after about a minute she pushed me away. "We've been gone too long," she said, wiping her eyes and sniffing. "They'll think we've been attacked."

I laughed lightly and wiped a tear from her cheek with my thumb. "We have been," I said.

Elisabeth laughed and stood up straighter. "Let's find out where we are," she said and ran to a tree. "Gimme a boost."

I lifted her up and she grabbed hold of a branch. She climbed up as high as she could and scanned the area.

"What do you see?" I asked.

She smiled. "We're on a thin island. There's another smaller island across a shallow channel. It's populated, I think." She climbed down quickly and landed somewhat clumsily on the ground next to me. "Welcome to Assateague Island," she said dramatically, sweeping her arms outward.

Just as she turned to face me, her eyes widened and her mouth rounded into a perfect O.

"Brennan, look," she whispered, pointing behind me. I turned slowly and saw in the distance what looked like a herd of horses.

I gaped at the herd and started towards them without thinking. Elisabeth grabbed my arm. "I bet you can talk to them," she whispered softly in my ear.

I crept closer until the stallion saw me. He reared up in defense but I shouted, "Stop! My name is Brennan Wells, son of the sea god Poseidon, maker of horses!"

The entire herd neighed nervously. The stallion cantered towards me carefully and pressed his nose against mine. He backed up and nodded in the horse-like manor that was so familiar to me.

_Son of Poseidon, welcome to my home. Why have you come?_

The voice was inside my head, but the stallion was staring intently at me, so I answered him. "I need to rescue Pegasus from the 'dancers.' They've captured him and hidden him away."

The stallion stamped his hoof and nudged me. _I know where the women you seek are. They are on the human's island. We saw them herding Pegasus across the channel with the others. The humans have begun the annual purge. Go quickly!_

Elisabeth and I exchanged glances and sprinted back towards the creek. "We have to find―"

"And just where have you two been?" It was Kim, standing with her hands on her hips next to Brian. I ran into Brian and Elisabeth ran into me, and all three of us toppled over.

We explained quickly as the herd of horses fled. Elisabeth did most of the talking, though she left out the part about her crying over Willow.

"Dancers? Hmm," Brian hummed. "It could be the Muses; they dance."

Elisabeth shrugged. "The only way to find out is to go to the main island," she said.

Kim had been silent the whole time, and when she finally spoke, it was softly. "I think we should just go home," she whispered.

We all turned towards her. "What?" I asked, throwing my hands up.

She winced, but continued, "Really, what's the point of finding Pegasus? He was never that important. I could understand if a god was missing or something like that, but this is just an animal. It's like every other pegasus, right? Just older."

My mouth hung open. "This isn't just some plain old horse, Kim! This is Pegasus! _The Pegasus! _The original copy, the father of all pegasi, the―"

"I know!" Kim said fiercely, cutting me off. She crossed her arms. "But what I'm saying is: _what's the point?"_

Brian shrugged. "He's a son of Poseidon. Pegasus matters to him. And Pegasus matters to the gods. Without him, horses around the world would go into a frenzy. Mass chaos around the globe as―"

Kim rolled her eyes. "Now you're just making stuff up." Her hands went to her hips. "I want to go home. Now."

"Well then you should have gone to camp when you had the chance," I said.

"This camp isn't my home. I miss Mom and Dad!" she cried.

I rolled my eyes. "Dad isn't Dad! Your father is a god!"

Kim's eyes got wide. "I never thought of that!" she said quietly. "I want to go to camp!"

Elisabeth sighed in exasperation. "Well it's too late now, Kim. Let's _go!" _she said impatiently.

Kim pouted, but followed behind Elisabeth. Brian and I fell in line behind Kim and he nudged me.

"You and Kim fight a lot?" he asked quietly.

I shook my head. "We've never fought like this," I whispered. "She turned twelve this year, so I guess she's hit," I gulped, "puberty."

Brian chuckled softly. "May the gods help you."

We trekked to the other side of the island, with Elisabeth in the lead. "Alright, here's the plan: we go to the main island, search for these 'dancers' there. If we don't find them, we come back here, camp on the beach and search again tomorrow."

I nodded, but when I looked across the channel, I noticed one key problem: there was neither a boat nor a bridge. "How are we going to get there?" I asked.

Elisabeth shrugged. "We swim," she said simply.

I gulped. "I can't swim," I said quietly.

"Psh, you've swam plenty of times," Elisabeth said.

"Not by choice! There's no way I'd be able to make it across the channel," I admitted in defeat.

Kim sighed loudly and plopped onto the sand. "Poseidon is the god of the sea. I bet he's disappointed in you," she said harshly.

Even Elisabeth gave her a look and said, "Don't say―"

"No, no. She's right," I whispered. "I already knew it before she said it." I turned towards the ocean. "You don't have to hide it anymore!" I screamed, throwing my arms open wide. "I'm such a failure! You brought me into this world on accident! I'm a _mistake_!" I yelled to the water.

My companions stood in shocked silence. "Brennan, that's not what I―" Kim began meekly.

"Yes it is," I said, cutting her off. I turned my back on the ocean, and faced the woods.

Elisabeth gasped and there was a splashing noise behind me. Without turning around I said, "Kim get out of the water!"

Kim tugged on my arm. "I'm right here, Brennan. But look!"

I turned slowly and my mouth fell open. Four animals were floating in the water about ten yards off the shore. They were horses in the water, their coats a shimmering silver.

_We are here from your father, son of Poseidon._

* * *

**A/N: **Suppahh short chapter? Sorry bout that.

Anyway, tell me what you think of the chapter and be honest. I need some critique on this!

Thanks bruh!

* * *

_**ψcamille elisabethψ**_


End file.
